Sentinel lymph node biopsy in cN0 squamous cell carcinoma of the lip: A retrospective study.

Background: The purpose of this study was to assess the use of sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) in clinically lymph node-negative (cN0) squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the lip deemed high risk for occult nodal metastasis.

Methods: Twenty-six patients with cT1 to T2 cN0 with SCC of the lip underwent SLNB at a tertiary referral center between January 2001 and March 2012. Initial staging methods were clinical examination only (65.