Occult metastases detected by sentinel node biopsy in patients with early oral and oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinomas: Impact on survival

Abstract

Our study is the first to demonstrate that even small tumor deposits only detectable by the extensive histopathologic workup of the SLNB protocol have a significant impact on tumor control and survival in early Oropharyngeal SCC. Whether these findings will translate into different treatment strategies based on the upstaged neck has to be further investigated.

Prognostic implications of node metastatic features in OSCC: A retrospective study on 121 neck dissections

“…We also confirmed the statistically significant different survival probability of patients with micrometastases (5-year, 40%), intermediate among pN0 (5-year, 69.10%) and pN+ with macrometastases patients (5-year, 28.68%), as previously reported by Broglie et al (20) and Han et al (28). Statistically significant difference in the overall survival was also found according to clinical intent to surgery independently from the pN0, with a better prognosis in patients who had undergone elective ND or after SLN + when compared with the ones who had undergone therapeutic ND, independently from pN status.…”

“…Throughout the time period of the study, the resection specimens were performed by the same surgical team and were assessed by the same pathological team. Pathological report and topography of the extent and location of the metastatic disease for each patient were reviewed and number, size and histological patterns of LNM-positive cases (pN+) were re-evaluated according to previous literature (14,15,20,21) Table I.…”

Predictive Significance of Tumor Depth and Budding for Late Lymph Node Metastases in Patients with Clinical N0 Early Oral Tongue Carcinoma

“…Occult lymph node metastases are observed in 20-40% of cases and their successful control contributes to improved survival in patients with this disease [1][2][3][4][5][6]. The wait-and-see policy, sentinel node biopsy (SNB), or elective neck dissection (END) are selected for the management of clinical N0, however, the best option has not been determined.…”

Recent innovations in head and neck oncology: a report from the ICHNO

“…The SNB concept has been validated and successfully implemented in different centers around the world [7]. In the largest prospective single-institution cohort in Switzerland, SNB was highly accurate in detecting the sentinel lymph nodes (SNs) with a detection rate of 99%, which was comparable with other studies [8]. As in previous studies, the true status of the neck was most accurately determined by thorough histopathologic examination of the small number of SNs with routine application of step serial sectioning and immunohistochemistry.…”