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What is the role of elective neck dissection in low‐, intermediate‐, and high‐grade mucoepidermoid carcinoma?
Author(s) -
Moss William J.,
Coffey Charles S.,
Brumund Kevin T.,
Weisman Robert A.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
the laryngoscope
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.181
H-Index - 148
eISSN - 1531-4995
pISSN - 0023-852X
DOI - 10.1002/lary.25588
Subject(s) - otorhinolaryngology , medicine , head and neck surgery , general surgery , mucoepidermoid carcinoma , surgery , carcinoma
BACKGROUND The decision to proceed with elective neck dissection (END) is based on the probability of finding microscopic disease in a patient without clinical evidence of lymph node metastases. In contrast to squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck, there is currently no standard of care for END in salivary gland carcinoma. This is due in large part to the relatively low incidence of these tumors and the diversity of histologic subtypes therein, many of which exhibit distinct tumor biology. Nevertheless, great progress has been made in recent decades in describing and predicting the behavior of salivary gland cancers. For mucoepidermoid carcinoma (MEC), the most common salivary gland malignancy, histologic tumor grade has emerged as the most important prognosticator for lymph node disease. However, in light of varying histologic grading criteria, technical difficulty in interpreting salivary gland histology, and a relative paucity of clinical data, there is no consensus on the reliability of tumor grade when considering elective treatment of the clinically negative (N0) neck in MEC patients.