From 1964-1977, 242 previously untreated patients with a oral cavity carcinoma were treated in the Service of Radiotherapy in the Clínica Puerta de Hierro of Madrid. The actuarial survival at five years was 52,5% (26 T1, 96 T2, 120 T3). The presence of nodes in the moment of treatment was of great prognostic value. And so the actuarial survival at five years of the N(+) was 31% vs 64% in the No (p less than or equal to 005). Of 161 patients without adenopathies (No), 73 patients were treated with prophylactic irradiation of the neck, and 88 patients were kept under observation without any cervical treatment; ganglionary relapses appeared in the 5,5% of the first group vs 26% in the patients who had no cervical treatment at all (p less than or equal to 001), wich reaffirms the value of prophylactic or elective radiotherapy.