2019 Volume 31 Issue 3 Pages 137-142
Despite advances in early detection, diagnosis, and treatment of oral squamous cell carcinoma, the survival rate for patients with early stage has remained at approximately 80％ for the past 30 years. Regional lymph node metastasis is an important prognostic factor. Therefore, early detection of cervical lymph node metastasis is expected to further improve survival. Whether patients with cN0 status should be treated with elective neck dissection or with therapeutic neck dissection after nodal relapse has been a matter of debate. Sentinel node biopsy （SNB） is a widely accepted procedure in various human malignancies. SNB has received considerable attention for its role in deciding whether to perform neck dissection. The main objective in this study is to investigate the topographical distribution of sentinel lymph nodes and occult metastatic lymph nodes to assess the validity of completion neck dissection of level Ⅰ-Ⅲ in early tongue squamous cell carcinoma patients and explain an outline of the current status of SNB in oral cancer.
