For practical purposes this means the complete removal of the submandibular salivary gland since the gland is so small. If the biopsy material is reported as malignant, a much wider excision is carried out, with resection of a segment of mandible in continuity with the specimen. Opinion is divided as to whether a block dissection of the cervical nodes on the same side should be included in the procedure. The author believes it should be done if the histology of the primary is a frank carcinoma, but probably not if it is mucoepidermoid or adenoid cystic carcinoma. Immediate repair of the mandibular defect may be carried out by prosthesis provided that radiotherapy has not been used previously.
Postoperative radiotherapy is advised in all malignancies.