ABSTRACT
Oral cancer ranks the sixth most common cancer across the globe, with a very high incidence and prevalence in southern part of Asia. Illicit habits such as consumption of alcohol and tobacco remain the most dominant causative factors; however, human papilloma virus (HPV) has recently been studied in oral cancers especially in tumors of base of the tongue and tonsils. This chapter explains in detail about every subsite of the cancer in head and neck with their Tumor, Node, Metastasis (TNM) staging. Surgical management of these tumors is the most widely accepted choice of initial definitive or curative management for a majority of oral cancers. The parameters that reflect on the choice of treatment to be selected are related to the tumor and the patient. Site of primary tumor, location of tumor, size of tumor, any proximity to bone and depth of infiltration are non-patient factors that influence a particular surgical approach. This chapter also highlights and explains all the types of surgical procedures based on the postsurgical defects.
