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Comparative Study
. 2025 Jul;91 Suppl 1(Suppl 1):101639.
doi: 10.1016/j.bjorl.2025.101639. Epub 2025 Jun 4.

Sentinel lymph node biopsy in early oral cavity tumors: Evaluation of the oncologic efficacy compared to elective neck dissection

Marco Roberto Seferin  1 , Fábio Roberto Pinto  2 , Chin Shien Lin  3 , Ana Kober Nogueira Leite  3 , Paulo Vitor Sola Gimenes  4 , Rogerio Aparecido Dedivitis  5 , Marco Aurélio Vamondes Kulcsar  3 , Claudio Roberto Cernea  5 , Leandro Luongo Matos  3
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Sentinel lymph node biopsy in early oral cavity tumors: Evaluation of the oncologic efficacy compared to elective neck dissection

Marco Roberto Seferin et al. Braz J Otorhinolaryngol. 2025 Jul.

Abstract

Objective: To describe the oncological results of a prospective study in the use of sentinel lymph node biopsy as part of the surgical treatment of squamous cell carcinoma T1/T2N0 of the oral cavity in comparison to the results of patients submitted to levels I, II and III SND.

Methods: It was a prospective study in which seventy patients were divided into two groups, 35 being submitted to SND and the other 35 to SLB.

Results: In the SND group, locoregional recurrence occurred in 17.1%, with a 2.9% development of distant metastasis and 8.8% evolved with a second primary tumor. In the SLB, locoregional recurrence was observed in 7 patients (20.0%), 5.7% developed distant metastasis, and 5.7% had a second primary tumor. There was no significant difference between the two groups for both overall (p = 0.521) and disease-free survival (p = 0.753).

Conclusion: A SLB is reliable for the management of clinically negative neck in patients with oral T1/T2N0 squamous cell carcinoma.

Level of evidence: Level III.

Keywords: Lymphatic metastasis; Mouth neoplasms; Prognosis; Sentinel lymph node biopsy; Survival.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Cumulative overall survival of 57.6% for the SND group and 69.7% for the SLB (p = 0.521 ‒ Log-Rank test).
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Cumulative disease-free survival of 73.0% for the SND group and 71.5% for the SLB group (p = 0.753 ‒ Log-Rank test).
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
ROC curve for the diagnostic evaluation of sentinel lymph node biopsy in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity. Area under the ROC curve = 0.889 (95% CI 0.734%‒0.970%).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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