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. 2023 Sep;280(9):4233-4238.
doi: 10.1007/s00405-023-08020-x. Epub 2023 May 22.

Incidence and spread pattern of lymph node metastasis from submandibular gland cancer

Kotaro Tamagawa  1 , Naoki Otsuki  2   3 , Hikari Shimoda  1 , Naruhiko Morita  1 , Tatsuya Furukawa  1 , Masanori Teshima  1 , Hirotaka Shinomiya  1 , Ken-Ichi Nibu  1
Affiliations

Incidence and spread pattern of lymph node metastasis from submandibular gland cancer

Kotaro Tamagawa et al. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol. 2023 Sep.

Abstract

Objectives: To clarify the indication of neck dissection (ND) for patient with submandibular gland (SMG) cancer.

Methods: A total of 43 patients with SMG cancer were retrospectively analyzed. Forty-one patients underwent ND: Levels I-V in 19 patients, Levels I-III in 18 patients, and Level Ib in 4 patients. The other two patients did not undergo ND, since preoperative diagnoses were benign. Postoperative radiotherapy was performed in 19 patients with positive surgical margin, high grade cancer or stage IV disease.

Results: LN metastases were pathologically confirmed in all patients with cN + and 6 out of 31 patients with cN-. No patients developed regional recurrence during follow-up periods. Ultimately, LN metastases were pathologically confirmed in 17 of 27 high grade, one out of 9 intermediate grade, but not in 7 low grade.

Conclusions: Prophylactic neck dissection should be considered in T3/4 and high grade SMG cancers.

Keywords: Cervical lymph node; Neck dissection; Occults metastasis; Submandibular gland cancer.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Therapeutic patterns and pathological neck metastasis. (Numbers in parentheses indicate patients who received postoperative radiotherapy)
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Kaplan–Meier analysis of overall survival according to clinical (cN) and pathological (pN) neck metastasis status
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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