Open AccessElective neck irradiation in the management of esthesioneuroblastoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Author(s) -
Armando De Virgilio,
Andrea Costantino,
Daniela Sebastiani,
Elena Russo,
Ciro Franzese,
Giuseppe Mercante,
Marta Scorsetti,
Giuseppe Spriano
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
rhinology (amsterdam. online)/rhinology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1996-8604
pISSN - 0300-0729
DOI - 10.4193/rhin21.139
Subject(s) - medicine , esthesioneuroblastoma , confidence interval , meta analysis , odds ratio , hazard ratio , medline , stage (stratigraphy) , relative risk , surgery , radiation therapy , paleontology , political science , law , biology
Background: There is no consensus about the optimal management of the neck in clinically node negative esthesioneuroblastoma (ENB). The aim of this study is to assess the impact of elective neck irradiation (ENI) in terms of regional disease control and survival. Methods: The study was performed according to the PRISMA guidelines searching on Scopus, PubMed/MEDLINE, and Google Scholar databases. The primary outcome was the regional recurrence rate (RRR), that was reported as odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). Secondary outcomes were the overall survival (OS), and the distant-metastases free survival (DMFS), that were reported as logarithm of the hazard ratios (logHRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results: A total of 489 clinically node negative patients were included from 9 retrospective studies. ENI significantly reduced the risk of regional recurrence compared to no treatment. No difference was measured between ENI and observation, according to both OS and DMFS. No stratified analysis could be performed based on Kadish stage and Hyams grade. Conclusions: ENI should be recommended to improve the regional disease control. No advantage was measured in terms of survival or distant metastases with a low quality of evidence. Further prospective studies should be designed to understand if ENI could be avoided in early stage and low-grade tumors.