Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 13, 2026
Modified Radical Neck Dissection for Cervical Metastasis
Published on: February 20, 2026
Neck dissection in squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue
Ali Amar1, Otávio Alberto Curioni, Sergio Altino Franzi
1Department of Head and Neck Surgery and Otorhinolaryngology, Hospital Heliópolis, Hosphel, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Aim:
The purpose of this study was to assess the prognosis of patients with tonsillar squamous cell carcinoma with different stages of lymph node involvement and to determine the best elective neck dissection for those cases.
Study Design:
Case series.
Material And Method:
51 patients with tonsillar tumors were treated between 1992 and 2001. The incidence of different tumor-node-metastasis stages was evaluated according to primary tumor extension.
Results:
cN0 patients had metastases in stages I and II only. Among pN+ subjects with stage I metastases, 6/7 had primary tumor extending to oral cavity.
Conclusion:
Supraomohyoid neck dissection (stages I, II and III) is the elective treatment of choice when tonsillar primary tumor extends to oral cavity. When primary tumors are limited to the oropharynx, selective neck dissection of stages II and III proved to be more adequate.
