Outcome with neck dissection after chemoradiation for N3 head-and-neck squamous cell carcinoma

To evaluate the role of neck dissection (ND) after chemoradiation therapy (CRT) for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) with N3 disease.

From March 1998 to September 2006, 70 patients with HNSCC and N3 neck disease were treated with concomitant CRT as primary therapy. Response to treatment was assessed using clinical examination and computed tomography 6 to 8 weeks posttreatment. Neck dissection was not routinely performed and considered for those with less than complete response. Of the patients, 26 (37.1%) achieved clinical complete response (cCR) after CRT. A total of 31 (44.3%) underwent ND after partial response (cPR-ND). Thirteen patients (29.5%) did not achieve cCR and did not undergo ND for the following reasons: incomplete response/progression at primary site, refusal/contraindication to surgery, metastatic progression, or death. These patients were excluded from the analysis. Outcomes were computed using Kaplan-Meier curves and were compared with log rank tests.

Comparing the cCR and cPR-ND groups at 2 years, the disease-free survival was respectively 62.7% and 84.9% (p = 0.048); overall survival was 63.0% and 79.4% (p = 0.26), regional relapse-free survival was 87.8% and 96.0% (p = 0.21); and distant disease-free survival was 67.1% and 92.6% (p = 0.059). In the cPR-ND group, 71.0% had no pathologic evidence of disease (PPV of 29.0%).

Patients with N3 disease achieving regional cPR and primary cCR who underwent ND seemed to have better outcomes than patients achieving global cCR without ND. Clinical assessment with computed tomography is not adequate for evaluating response to treatment. Because of the inherent limitations of our study, further confirmatory studies are warranted.