Intraoral sonography-assisted resection of T1-2 tongue cancer for adequate deep resection

Objective: To investigate the clinical usefulness of intraoral sonography-assisted resection for securing adequate deep resection margins in T1-2 tongue cancers. Study Design: Prospective clinical trial. Materials and Methods: Twenty consecutive patients with clinical T1-2 tongue cancers were enrolled and their lesions were removed by intraoral sonography-assisted resection. We then retrospectively collected data from 20 T stage-matched patients without intraoral sonography-assisted resection as the control group. All resections were performed with a goal of 15 mm margin. The mucosal and deep safety margins were compared between the two groups. Results: Intraoral sonography could predict the paraffin-embedded tumor thickness with an error of 3.16 ± 2.24 mm. The deep safety margins were more adequate for intraoral sonography-assisted resection (9.8 ± 5.2 mm) than for conventional resection (4.0 ± 2.03 mm) (P < 0.001), while the mucosal safety margins were not different. Conclusion: Intraoral sonography-assisted resection provides a more adequate deep resection margin for early T-stage tongue cancers.