Predictive factors for occult lymph node metastasis in patients with stage I/Ⅱ oral tongue cancer

Abstract

The tumor depth patterns of the primary tumor have been well known as one of major predictive factors for occult nodal metastasis in patients with stage I/Ⅱ oral tongue cancer. Furthermore, the invasion patterns of the primary, such as the Yamamoto-Kohama's mode of invasion classification, could be also useful to predict the presence of occult nodal metastasis of stage I/Ⅱ oral tongue cancer. We here reviewed the significance of the depth and invasion patterns of the primary tumor for the prediction of occult lymph node metastasis in patients with stage I/Ⅱ oral tongue cancer.