Prevalence of occult cervical lymph nodes metastasis in CN0 in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC).

Occult metastasis is not easily detected clinically or radiographically. Various methods have been applied for neck control for clinically N0 via elective neck dissection (END), wait and watch (W&W) and sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB). The main aim of this study is to investigate the prevalence of occult cervical lymph nodes metastasis in cN0 in oral squamous cell carcinoma, to investigate and compare the disease-free state and overall survival rate between occult metastasis and the non-occult group that presented at the oral and maxillofacial surgery clinic, Faculty of Dentistry, Universiti Malaya.