[Clinicopathologic features and prognostic factors of cervical lymph node metastasis in oral squamous cell carcinoma].

Background & Objective: The cervical lymphatic meta-static rate of oral squamous carcinoma is 50%-59%. The management of cervical lymphatic metastasis relates with prognosis of patients with oral squamous carcinoma. This study was to investigate the clinicopathologic features and prognosis factors of cervical lymph node metastasis in oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Methods: Clinicopathologic data of 191 patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma were retrospectively reviewed. The relationship between histopathologic factors and cervical lymph node metastasis was evaluated by univariate Chi(2) test. Cox regression model was used to analyze impacts of pathologic factors of cervical lymph nodes, such as metastatic status, size and number of positive neck nodes,levels of positive nodes, the lowest involved nodal level, on prognosis.

Results: The overall 5-year survival rate of the 191 patients was 48.7%. Univariate Chi(2) test confirmed that only depth of primary tumor infiltration correlated to cervical lymph node metastasis. Cox regression analysis revealed that clinical N stage, cervical lymphatic metastatic status, number of involved levels, and the lowest involved nodal level affected prognosis of patients, the most significant prognostic factors of cervical lymph node were clinical N stage, and the lowest involved nodal level.

Conclusions: Cervical lymph node metastasis is a significant prognostic factor of oral squamous cell carcinoma. The identification of metastatic patterns of cervical lymph nodes, and the management targeting pathologic factors of cervical lymph node affecting survival are critical for improving the treatment effect on oral squamous cell carcinoma.