Correlation between the number of histologically positive neck nodes and the prognosis in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity and pharynx

Abstract

The correlation between the extent of neck node metastasis and the prognosis in previously untreated cases of squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity and pharynx was studied.
In patients with oral cavity cancer, the prognosis became poor as the degree of N-stage, the degree of pN-stage, and the number of histologically positive nodes increased. The five-year crude survival was 78.9% in tongue carcinoma patients with no histologically positive node, while that was 0% in those with more than five histologically positive nodes. The prognosis of patients with oral cavity cancer other than tongue carcinoma deteriorated dramatically when there were more than two histologically positive neck nodes.
In patients with carcinoma of the meso-and hypopharynx, the correlation between the neck node metastasis and the prognosis was less prominent, although the high degree of pN-stage (pN2, pN3) and more than two histologically positive nodes were absolutely unfavorable prognostic factors.