[Comparative clinico-histologic study of metastatic adenopathies in cancer of the lip]

The authors studied the correlation between clinical examination and histological findings in lymph node metastasis in 256 patients suffering from carcinoma of the lip. According to the clinical stage, the following were encountered: a) 84 cases of nodes without any clinical changes (32.8%); b) 140 cases of nodes larger than normal, but mobile (54.6%); c) 32 cases of fixed nodes (12.6%). Lymph node dissection was carried out in 210 patients and histological examination revealed: --in group (a) 61 patients operated): lymph node involvement in 8.9% of cases; --in group (b) (120 cases operated): lymph node involvement in 30% of cases; --in group (c) (29 patients operated): lymph node involvement confirmed in 86.2% of cases. In conclusion, only histological examination provides definite information regarding lymph node involvement, confirming or contradicting pre-operative clinical findings.