TY - JOUR
T1 - The origin of regional failure in oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma with pathologically negative neck metastases
AU - Amit, Moran
AU - Yen, Tzu Chen
AU - Liao, Chun Ta
AU - Chaturvedi, Pankaj
AU - Agarwal, Jai Prakash
AU - Kowalski, Luiz Paulo
AU - Kohler, Hugo F.
AU - Ebrahimi, Ardalan
AU - Clark, Jonathan R.
AU - Cernea, Claudio Roberto
AU - Brandao, Jose S.
AU - Kreppel, Matthias
AU - Zöller, Joachim E.
AU - Leider-Trejo, Leonor
AU - Bachar, Gideon
AU - Shpitzer, Thomas
AU - Bolzoni, Andrea Villaret
AU - Patel, Raj P.
AU - Jonnalagadda, Sashikanth
AU - Robbins, Thomas Kevin
AU - Shah, Jatin P.
AU - Patel, Snehal G.
AU - Gil, Ziv
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
Copyright 2014 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.
PY - 2014/12/1
Y1 - 2014/12/1
N2 - IMPORTANCE: Squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity (OSCC) is a common malignant tumor worldwide. OBJECTIVE To determine if regional failure in patients with OSCC and pathologically negative neck nodes (pN-) is due to an incomplete sampling procedure during surgery. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 2258 patients from 11 cancer centers worldwide who underwent neck dissection for OSCC (1990-2011) and who were pN-. Of those, 345 had clinical evidence of nodal metastases (cN+) on radiologic workup. The neck specimens were available for reanalysis in 193 patients. Survival rates were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier graphs and analyzed by multivariable analysis. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Five-year overall survival (OS), disease-specific survival (DSS), and disease-free survival (DFS). RESULTS: Resectioning and analysis of the neck dissection specimens in the cN+/pN-subgroup revealed false-negative results in 29 (15%) of 193 patients. The negative predictive value of the initial pathologic examination was 85%. The 5-year OS and DSS in the cN-/pN-group were 77.6%and 87.2%, respectively. The 5-year OS and DSS of the cN+/pN- group were 62.6%and 78.5%, respectively (P < .001). In multivariable analysis, cN+ classification was significantly associated with poor OS (hazard ratio [HR], 1.7; 95%CI, 1.1-3.8; P = .03) and poor DSS (HR, 1.46; 95%CI, 1.1-4.1; P = .04). A cN+ classification was associated with lower DFS (66.3%vs 76.2%; P = .05) and lower regional recurrence-free survival (68.6%vs 78.8%; P = .02) but not with local (P = .20) or distant recurrence (P = .80). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Pathologic staging underestimates the incidence of nodal metastases in cN+ disease. After correction for pathologically missed nodal metastases, radiologic evidence of neck nodes is an independent predictor of outcome, suggesting that traditional sampling during surgery might miss metastases, and this fact might explain the origin of treatment failure in these patients.
AB - IMPORTANCE: Squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity (OSCC) is a common malignant tumor worldwide. OBJECTIVE To determine if regional failure in patients with OSCC and pathologically negative neck nodes (pN-) is due to an incomplete sampling procedure during surgery. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 2258 patients from 11 cancer centers worldwide who underwent neck dissection for OSCC (1990-2011) and who were pN-. Of those, 345 had clinical evidence of nodal metastases (cN+) on radiologic workup. The neck specimens were available for reanalysis in 193 patients. Survival rates were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier graphs and analyzed by multivariable analysis. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Five-year overall survival (OS), disease-specific survival (DSS), and disease-free survival (DFS). RESULTS: Resectioning and analysis of the neck dissection specimens in the cN+/pN-subgroup revealed false-negative results in 29 (15%) of 193 patients. The negative predictive value of the initial pathologic examination was 85%. The 5-year OS and DSS in the cN-/pN-group were 77.6%and 87.2%, respectively. The 5-year OS and DSS of the cN+/pN- group were 62.6%and 78.5%, respectively (P < .001). In multivariable analysis, cN+ classification was significantly associated with poor OS (hazard ratio [HR], 1.7; 95%CI, 1.1-3.8; P = .03) and poor DSS (HR, 1.46; 95%CI, 1.1-4.1; P = .04). A cN+ classification was associated with lower DFS (66.3%vs 76.2%; P = .05) and lower regional recurrence-free survival (68.6%vs 78.8%; P = .02) but not with local (P = .20) or distant recurrence (P = .80). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Pathologic staging underestimates the incidence of nodal metastases in cN+ disease. After correction for pathologically missed nodal metastases, radiologic evidence of neck nodes is an independent predictor of outcome, suggesting that traditional sampling during surgery might miss metastases, and this fact might explain the origin of treatment failure in these patients.
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U2 - 10.1001/jamaoto.2014.1539
DO - 10.1001/jamaoto.2014.1539
M3 - Article
C2 - 25074731
AN - SCOPUS:84919754096
SN - 2168-6181
VL - 140
SP - 1130
EP - 1137
JO - JAMA Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery
JF - JAMA Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery
IS - 12
ER -