Sentinel lymph node biopsy for management of the N0 neck in oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma,

John T. Loree BA  Saurin R. Popat MD  Mark S. Burke MD  Jennifer Frustino DDS, PhD  Jeewanjot S. Grewal BA  Thom R. Loree MD
First published: 16 May 2019 https://doi.org/10.1002/jso.25494 Cited by: 1
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Abstract
Background and Objectives
The management of the clinically N0 (cN0) neck is controversial for early stage squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity (OSCC). This paper represents a single institution series analyzing the efficacy of sentinel lymph node biopsy (SNB) for early stage oral cavity cancers.

Methods
From 2005 to 2017, 108 patients with cN0 OSCC were treated with primary resection and SNB. Patients with positive biopsy results proceeded to neck dissection with or without adjuvant chemoradiotherapy. Mean follow‐up for the entire cohort was 50.8 months (range: 8‐147 months). Clinically, 56 patients were T1N0, 49 patients were T2N0, and three patients were T3N0 or greater.

Results
Disease‐specific survival was 93% within the entire cohort. Sentinel lymph nodes were identified in 95.4% of patients. Twenty one patients had a positive biopsy. There were seven false‐negative biopsies. The overall rate of nodal disease was 26%. Accuracy of node biopsy was 93%, with sensitivity of 75%, and negative predictive value of 91%. Recurrence rate was 19% (20/108), with an overall survival of 60% in this subgroup.

Conclusion
SNB is a safe, effective, and well tolerated method for staging cN0 OSCC.