Complete resection could reduce recurrence in oral and oropharyngeal cancer.

We used NBI to define superficial margins in 93 oral and oropharyngeal cancers.

Intraoperative NBI allowed to obtain complete resection in 84.9 % of cases.

5-years cumulative incidence of local recurrence was 9.7 %, lower than literature.

Complete resection with NBI could recalibrate the impact of classical risk factors.

The aim of this study was to assess the number of complete resections and recurrence rates in oral and oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma treated with intraoperative narrow-band-imaging.

In this observational study, superficial resection margins of oral and oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma were intraoperatively defined using narrow-band-imaging. The number of complete resections was assessed. Patients were followed up for at least 5 years: disease free survival and the cumulative incidence of local recurrence were recorded.

93 squamous cell carcinoma were considered. Surgical resection was complete in 84.9 % of cases. The 5-years disease free survival was 76.2 % (95%CI: 67.1 %–84.4 %). Cumulative incidence of local recurrence was 9.7 % (95%CI: 4.7 %–16.7 %), lower compared to previous literature: it was higher in patients over 68 years (14.3 %, 95%CI: 6.2 %–25.6 % vs 4.5 %, 95%CI: 0.8 %–13.8 %) although without statistically significance.

In oral and oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma surgery, narrow-band imaging is a valuable tool for accurately identifying the true superficial extent of the tumor, facilitating complete resection and potentially reducing local recurrence.

Narrow-band-imaging

Oral-cancer

Oropharyngeal-cancer

Complete-resection

Surgical-margins

Local-recurrence

© 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc.