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Sentinel node biopsy as an alternative to elective neck dissection for staging of early oral carcinoma
Author(s) -
Samant Sandeep
Publication year - 2014
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.23288
Subject(s) - medicine , sentinel node , neck dissection , surgery , biopsy , dissection (medical) , stage (stratigraphy) , carcinoma , radiology , cancer , breast cancer , paleontology , biology
Background We report the outcome of sentinel node biopsy (SNB) for staging the neck in a consecutive cohort of 34 patients with T1/2 clinically N0 oral carcinoma. Methods SNB was performed along with resection of primary tumor. Neck dissection was reserved for failure of SNB or pathologically positive sentinel nodes (pN+). Results Sentinel node identification was successful in 32 of 34 patients (94%); 2 patients with unsuccessful SNB underwent immediate neck dissection. Seven patients (21%) were pN+, 6 by SNB and 1 by elective neck dissection (END). Among 29 patients who were pN0 on SNB, nodal recurrence developed in 2 patients; both were surgically salvaged. Local failure developed in 1 patient. Two‐year overall and disease‐free survival was 87% and 80%, respectively. Conclusion Successful eradication of lymphatic metastasis noted in this study suggests that SNB may be a safe alternative to END for neck staging in patients with early oral carcinoma. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 36: 241–246, 2014