How to treat cheek cancer?

  Buccal cancer usually refers to squamous cell carcinoma that occurs in the buccal mucosa and the inner mucosa of the upper and lower lip, accounting for about 30% of oral cancer. Those occurring in the skin of the cheek are habitually classified as skin cancer of the face.  Clinical observation and experimental studies have found that buccal cancer is related to the local stimulation by physical and chemical factors and the existence of certain precancerous lesions. Chronic stimulation by smoking, alcohol consumption, especially bad oral prosthesis, residual crowns and roots, as well as poor oral hygiene and nutrition, can be the causative factors for the development. Clinical studies have shown that about 9%-20% of human buccal cancers are transformed from white spots. It has been reported or clinically confirmed that buccal mucosal lichen planus, especially the vesicular and atrophic types, can cause cancer.  There is no obvious pain in the early stage of buccal cancer. When the tumor infiltrates deep tissues such as muscles or combined with infection, obvious pain appears, accompanied by different degrees of mouth opening restriction until the teeth are closed. When the periapical tissues are involved, toothache or tooth loosening may occur. Patients often have swollen lymph nodes under the jaw or in the upper neck. The swollen lymph nodes may be due to tumor metastasis or may be due to infection. Squamous carcinoma of the buccal mucosa usually has ulcer formation with deep invasion, and only rarely presents as a warty or papillary exostosis. In buccal carcinomas that develop from leukoplakia, white spots can often be found in the affected area. Glandular carcinoma is rarely ulcerated, but mainly manifests as bulging or infiltrating hard masses.  Principles and key points of surgical treatment: 1. Adequate depth: Even in early stage cases, the depth of resection must include submucosal fat and fascial layer.  2.Adequate boundary: The resection should be performed at 2 cm of normal tissues beyond the judiciable clinical boundary of the cancer.  3.Cervical lymphatic dissection: Since buccal cancer is more likely to metastasize to cervical lymph, cervical lymphatic dissection should be performed in most cases, but radical or functional cervical lymphatic dissection can be performed in different areas according to specific conditions.  Pre- or post-operative chemotherapy and radiotherapy can be used according to the specific situation, and the advanced method of radioactive particle implantation can also be used intraoperatively for adjuvant treatment. In recent years, we have developed many personalized tumor treatment methods to maximize the cure rate and minimize trauma and postoperative complications.