Be sure that the scans were of lungs, brain, etc. Once you have cancer in your lymph system it can end up in many other places very distant to the primary. At bare minimum a spiral CT of the lungs should be done, and one reveling the entire aerodigestive tract, the number one location for a metastasis. We have patients here on the board that have had liver mets, and brain mets that were undiagnosed at the time of treatment of the index/oral cancer. Lastly, cure rates (the wrong term, but I will use it here) between radiation and surgery are not necessarily the same. It depends more on the stage of the tumor. A carcinoma in situ or a very early stage one tumor has an excellent cure rate from surgery. A stage 3 or 4 cancer treated with surgery alone definitely has a different result. Obviously this comment was made by a surgeon.... I find it equally disturbing that this doctor has not staged the cancer yet has already wielded the scalpel. This isn't right. You need to know the complete extent (stage) of the disease before embarking on a treatment plan.