Neck Dissection Indications in Lower Lip Squamous Cell Carcinoma Cases: Our Experience in 96 Cases

• Main Authors: Fatih Irmak, Selami Serhat Şirvan, Çağatay Öner, Soysal Baş, Zeliha Gül, Ayşin Karasoy
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: KARE Publishing 2019-03-01
• Series: Southern Clinics of Istanbul Eurasia
• Subjects: lower lip tumors; neck dissection; squamous cell carcinoma.
• Online Access: https://jag.journalagent.com/z4/download_fulltext.asp?pdir=scie&un=SCIE-85047

INTRODUCTION[|]Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is the most common lip carcinoma and nodal status is the single most important prognostic factor. Though surgery is the first choice of treatment in early-stage cases, elective neck dissection to treat an eventual occult metastasis is still a matter of discussion.[¤]METHODS[|]A total of 96 patients with lower lip SCC who were operated on in a single clinic between January 2005 and July 2017 were included in this study. Patients who did and did not undergo elective neck dissection after tumor resection according to risk and nodal status were studied in terms of age, gender, tumor size, and neck dissection type.[¤]RESULTS[|]Among 96 patients, 74 were classified as T1-2N0 according to the American Joint Committee on Cancer staging system, and 30 underwent elective neck dissection. Among these 30 patients, 6 were diagnosed with metastasis. A total of 51 of the 96 members of the study group underwent elective supraomohyoid neck dissection. In all, 23 patients were diagnosed with metastasis.[¤]DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION[|]Lower lip SCC is a cancer with a relatively good prognosis, but regional lymph node metastasis decreases the survival rate substantially. In selected cases, staging the tumor via supraomohyoid neck dissection or sentinel lymph node biopsy is adequate to detect occult metastasis and prevent late lymph node metastasis.[¤]