Identification of occult metastatic disease via lymphoscintigraphy-guided neck dissection in N0 oral squamous cell carcinoma

Background The purpose of this study is to assess the efficacy of lymphoscintigraphy-guided neck dissection (LSG-ND) in the treatment of N0 oral squamous cell carcinoma. Methods A retrospective cohort study of patients with N0 oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) who had either LSG-ND or neck dissection (ND) at our institution between 2008 and 2020. Results Eighty-seven patients met criteria with N0 oral squamous cell carcinoma with no previous treatment or neck surgery (27 LSG-ND, 60 ND). Sentinel lymph nodes were identified on the contralateral side in 14.8% of patients with unilateral tumors in the LSG-ND group, with 22.2% of cases with unexpected lymphatic drainage outside ipsilateral levels I-III. No recurrences to date have occurred in the LSG-ND cohort, while 13.3% of patients with ND had regional recurrence (p = 0.04). Conclusions LSG-ND provides a greater ability to identify occult metastatic disease with a significant reduction in regional recurrence in N0 oral SCC.

Automated summary

This study demonstrates that LSG-ND is effective in the treatment of N0 oral squamous cell carcinoma, reducing the rate of regional recurrence significantly.