Page 34 - Sentinel lymph node biopsy in oral cavity cancer - Inne J. den Toom

Chapter 2 ABSTRACT Background Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) in head and neck cancer is recently introduced as staging technique for patients diagnosed with a T1-T2 oral squamous cell carcinoma and clinically negative (cN0) neck. We report one of the largest singlecenter series. Methods Retrospective analysis of 90 previously untreated patients, who underwent a SLNB procedure between 2007 and 2012. A neck dissection was only performed after a positive SLNB. Results The lymphoscintigraphic identification rate was 98% (88/90) and surgical detection rate 99% (87/88). The upstaging rate was 30%. Sensitivity of SLNB was 93% and the negative predictive value was 97%. Overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) for SLNB negative were 100% and 84% and for SLNB positive patients 73% and 88%, respectively. Conclusions SLNB is a reliable diagnostic staging technique for the clinically negative neck in patients with early stage (cT1-T2N0) oral squamous cell carcinoma. 32