Cho Y, Yoon HI, Lee IJ, et al. - In this investigation involving 114 patients, researchers determined the patterns of local recurrence after curative resection and reconstruction for oropharyngeal and oral cancers. Study participants included patients with oropharyngeal and oral cancers who had resection and reconstruction. They classified the local recurrences as “intra-flap” (the recurrent tumor was located in the flap tissue), “marginal” (≤ 5 mm from the flap anastomosis), and “outside” (in the original tissue and > 5 mm from the anastomosis) recurrences. Data reported that 27 patients experienced local recurrence, whereas 32 experienced regional, and nine recurred distantly. Age > 60 years and lymph node metastasis were linked to poor disease-free survival and overall survival (OS), whereas the perineural invasion was associated with poor locoregional failure-free survival and OS. Overall, the authors concluded that most recurrences occurred at the marginal anastomosis site, whereas none developed in the flap tissue.