[General partial resection of the mandible in para-osteal cancers of the mouth and oropharynx].

The mandibles of 24 patients with a squamous cell carcinoma of the floor of the mouth or the tongue or the tonsils (all were T2N1b and T3N1b), were histologically examined. It could histologically be shown, that the bone will be destroyed by 2 modalities: 1. Atrophy of the mandible, caused by the pressure of the tumor, leaving the periosteum intact 2. Infiltration of the tumor into the bone. Tumor cells could not be found in the lymphatic system of the periosteum. Since the periosteum is a barrier against tumor growth, the indicator for the resection of the mandible was made after shaved off the periosteum. Resulting from our findings we propose the following concept: 1. If the tumor reaches the mandible (distance tumor to bone = 0 mm) or is fixed to the periosteum and the compacta shows no errosion, after shaving off the periosteum, the mandible can be preserved. 2. If the tumor grows through the periosteum, a marginal resection of the mandible is necessary. 3. If the bone shows errosion, a partial resection of the anterior part of the mandible or a hemimandibulectomy is indicated.