The prognosis of patients who have oral cancer with contralateral neck lymph node metastasis (CLNM) is poor. In this study, we retrospectively evaluated the incidence of CLNM and conditions associated with the occurrence of CLNM.
We reviewed the clinical records of 180 patients who had untreated squamous cell carcinoma that occurred unilaterally (except between the canines) in the oral and maxillofacial region. The patients were treated at our hospital between 1985 and 1999. A total of 29 patients had CLNM (16.1%). All of these patients had ipsilateral neck lymph node metastasis, and there was a trend toward a high prevalence of multiple node involvement. CLNM occurred in the patients with T 2-T 4 tongue cancer and with advanced (T 4) cancer in other regions. Four of the 29 patients with CLNM had simultaneous recurrence at primary sites and three of them had undergone ipsilateral radical neck dissection at initial treatment.
Our results suggest that patients with T 4 tumors or T 2-T 4 tongue tumors have a high risk of CLNM. Furthermore, patients with primary tumor recurrence should be closely observed for CLNM if ipsilateral neck dissection had previously been performed.
