Oral cancer: surgical management and neck dissection basics
Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery · Dental (BDS)
Study notes
A tongue cancer with a neck node gets tumour excision plus neck dissection. Why operate the neck when the lump is on the tongue? Oral cancer spreads to neck lymph nodes early and silently - the dissection both stages the disease (nodes positive or not) and treats it. Students learn oncology's rule: cancer is a regional disease; treating the primary while ignoring the draining nodes leaves the commonest metastasis behind.
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