No abstract

Introduction:In recent years, there has been a polarization around the discussion of neck management in patients with oral malignant neoplasm without evidence of lymph node involvement, regarding selective neck dissection (SND) of levels I, II and III, sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLB) and just surveillance. Objective: To describe the oncological results of a prospective study in the use of sentinel lymph node biopsy as part of the surgical treatment of squamous cell carcinoma T1/T2N0 of the oral cavity in comparison to the results of patients submitted to levels I, II and III SND. Methods: It was a prospective study in which seventy patients were divided into two groups, 35 being submitted to SND and the other 35 to SLB. Results: In the SND group, locoregional recurrence occurred in 17.1%, with a 2.9% development of distant metastasis and 8.8% evolved with a second primary tumor. In the SLB, locoregional recurrence was observed in 7 patients (20.0%), 5.7% developed distant metastasis, and 5.7% had a second primary tumor. There was no significant difference between the two groups for both overall (p = 0.521) and disease-free survival (p = 0.753). Conclusion: A SLB is reliable for the management of clinically negative neck in patients with oral T1/T2N0 squamous cell carcinoma.

Aos meus pais Cezar e Marli, que dedicaram suas vidas à educação dos seus filhos com muito amor e compreensão.À minha amada esposa Erica e filhos Lara e Noah, minha inspiração.Sem eles, nada faria sentido. v AGRADECIMENTOSAos professores que fizeram parte da minha formação profissional e, muitas vezes, pessoal. Agradeço aos que dedicaram suas vidas ao ensino e contribuíram para formação do meu carácter.