Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is one of the most common cancers in the world with a close relation with some risk factor like, tobacco, alcohol consumption and more recently, with human papilloma virus infection. A review of the literature about actual prognosis and quality of life in HNSCC has been done analysing the results of surgical treatment and their impact on the quality of life of patients. Despite the elevated incidence of HNSCC, the survival rate has increased considerably over the last years thanks to the development of new surgical techniques, such as, microvascular reconstruction or transoral robotic surgery and the most accurate adjuvant radiochemotherapy. Even in bad prognosis cases, there are many options to take into account not only with curative expectation, even, keeping in mind the preservation of the quality of life of patients. Due to the improvement of the prognosis, the interest of surgeons has been focused on preserve the aesthetics, functional and psychosocial aspect of patients without a worsening of the main objective which is the curative result. Although prognosis of HNSCC has improved, further studies are necessary to understand the behaviour in every case and determine how the impact on the quality of life can be a useful tool to individualize the therapies.
Primary malignant melanoma of the oral cavity is a rare neoplasm, especially on the tongue. We report a case of mucosal melanoma at the base of the tongue, an extremely rare location (only about 30 cases have been reported in literature). The extension study doesn´t revealed distant metastatic lesions. The patient was treated by subtotal glossectomy and bilateral functional neck dissection. Tongue is one of the most difficult structures to reconstruct, because of their central role in phonation, swallowing and airway protection. The defect was reconstructed with anterolateral thigh free flap. Surgical treatment was supplemented with adjuvant immunotherapy. The post-operative period was uneventful. At present, 24 months after surgery, patient is asymptomatic, there isn´t evidence of recurrence of melanoma and he hasn´t any difficulty in swallowing or phonation.
Key words:Malignant mucosal melanoma, anterolateral thigh free flap, phonation, swallowing.
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