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Depth of invasion in patients with early stage oral cancer staged by sentinel node biopsy
Author(s) -
Toom Inne J.,
Janssen Luuk M.,
Es Robert J.J.,
Karagozoglu K. Hakki,
Keizer Bart,
Weert Stijn,
Willems Stefan M.,
Bloemena Elisabeth,
Leemans C. René,
Bree Remco
Publication year - 2019
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.25665
Subject(s) - medicine , stage (stratigraphy) , occult , biopsy , sentinel lymph node , radiology , sentinel node , basal cell , cancer , metastasis , pathology , breast cancer , alternative medicine , biology , paleontology
Background To investigate if depth of invasion (DOI) can predict occult nodal disease in patients with cT1‐2N0 (7th TNM) oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) staged by sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB). Methods In 199 OSCC patients, DOI measurements and SLNB were performed. Results Metastases were found in 64 of 199 patients (32%). Of these 64 patients, the mean DOI was 6.6 mm compared to 4.7 mm in patients without metastases ( P = .003). The ROC‐curve showed an area under the curve of 0.65 with a most optimal cutoff point of 3.4 mm DOI (sensitivity 83% and specificity 47%). Regional metastases were found in 15% of patients with DOI ≤ 3.4 mm. Conclusion DOI seems to be a poor predictor for regional metastasis in patients with cT1‐2N0 OSCC. Therefore, staging of the neck using SLNB in patients with early stage oral cancer should also be performed in tumors with limited DOI and probably in T3 (8th TNM) OSCC ≤4 cm diameter.