Investigation of distant metastasis occurrence rates with different treatments: A comparison of superselective intra‐arterial chemoradiotherapy and surgery

Control of distant metastasis is an important factor in improving treatment outcomes for oral cancer. Superselective intra‐arterial chemoradiotherapy (SSIACRT) has been reported to be effective for preservation of form and function, thus enabling a satisfactory outcome. However, there have also been reports of a high frequency of distant metastases with SSIACRT. The present study therefore aimed to clarify whether treatment method has any relationship with the onset of distant metastases. Of a total of 384 cases of oral cancer, 270 underwent surgery, 44 underwent surgery followed by radiotherapy, and 70 underwent SSIACRT, and distant metastases occurred in 42 cases. On multivariate analysis, only N classification was a significant risk factor (P = .0001, odds ratio = 1.848). This confirmed that the only risk factor for distant metastases is lymph node metastasis, there is no relationship to treatment method, and there are no grounds to say that SSIACRT promotes distant metastases.