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Thank you for giving me this opportunity to reply to Parsons' comments. The decision to treat selected cases of T3, T4 tongue base carcinomas with a planned combined therapy was made at our center due to poor results obtained over a decade with radiotherapy alone. The superiority of combined therapy, ie, surgery followed by radiotherapy for T3, T4 oropharyngeal cancers, is well documented. Most of these patients have multiple nodal metastases as well at the time of presentation. Preservation of voice and swallowing in all cases is of significant benefit to the patients. Loco-regional recurrences are a rarity. Our patients not only returned to a normal life, but enjoy a quality of life never witnessed before. They have resumed their professions, like trucking, and pursue hobbies such as tennis and long-distance cycling. Xerostomia is just one of the complications of radiotherapy that one encounters. We have seen patients treated with