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Incidence and patterns of regional metastasis in early oral squamous cell cancers: Feasibility of submandibular gland preservation
Author(s) -
Razfar Ali,
Walvekar Rohan R.,
Melkane Antoine,
Johnson Jonas T.,
Myers Eugene N.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
head and neck
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.012
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1097-0347
pISSN - 1043-3074
DOI - 10.1002/hed.21129
Subject(s) - medicine , submandibular gland , metastasis , stage (stratigraphy) , floor of mouth , cancer , incidence (geometry) , oral cavity , head and neck cancer , head and neck , distant metastasis , oncology , surgery , dentistry , biology , paleontology , physics , optics
Background. We aimed to study the incidence of metastasis to the submandibular gland (SMG) and to establish the oncologic basis of SMG preservation in early‐stage cancer of the oral cavity (OSCC).Methods. This was a retrospective study of 261 patients with OSCC treated primarily with surgery at a tertiary medical center. One hundred thirty‐two early‐stage (T1‐2, N0) OSCCs were further analyzed.Results. The mean age was 59 years with male‐to‐female sex ratio of 1.4:1. Two hundred sixty‐one neck dissections were performed with SMG removal in 253 patients. One patient with an advanced floor of mouth cancer had obvious infiltration of the SMG. Only 2.5% (3 of 116) patients with early‐stage OSCC had level I metastasis; none had SMG metastases.Conclusion. SMG preservation in early cancers (T1‐2, N0) of the oral cavity should be feasible unless there is evidence of direct invasion of the gland or close proximity of the cancer to it. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck, 2009