Sentinel Node Localization in Oral Cavity and Oropharynx Squamous Cell Cancer

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Abstract
FOR PATIENTS with head and neck cancer, the histopathologic status of cervical lymph nodes is an important prognostic factor.1 Thus, accurate staging of the cervical lymph nodes is important for the treatment of this population. Even when patients have clinically negative lymph nodes, there is still a significant chance that they may harbor occult metastases.2,3 For patients with head and neck cancer who are treated surgically, management of the clinically negative neck usually involves an elective neck dissection.4,5 Unfortunately, the performance of an elective neck dissection may frequently leave an aesthetic and functional impairment. Cosmetic deformities due to neck dissection procedures may result from the lengthy scar and the ensuing asymmetry of the neck. Furthermore, acute and chronic shoulder dysfunction can be important sequelae of neck dissections.6-8 If sentinel node localization can predict which patient requires a neck dissection, then neck dissection may be avoided in patients with negative sentinel nodes, thus reducing the associated cosmetic deformities and shoulder dysfunction.