Impact of modified radical neck dissections on the number of retrieved nodes, recurrence and survival
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Updated: Jun 10, 2026
Modified Radical Neck Dissection for Cervical Metastasis
Published on: February 20, 2026
Hugo Fontan Kohler1, Isabella Werneck da Cunha, Luiz Paulo Kowalski
1Pathology Department, A. C. Camargo Hospital, Brazil.
Unlabelled:
Neck dissection is an integral part of head and neck tumors. Throughout its history, it has undergone changes looking for an improvement in functional outcome without loss of oncologic efficiency.
Aim:
Demonstrate that the modified radical neck dissection have an oncologic results comparable to classical radical dissection.
Materials And Methods:
We included patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the lower floor of the mouth and oropharynx, who underwent radical classic or modified neck dissection. We excluded from this analysis those patients who had undergone previous treatment or extended neck dissection.
Study Design:
Retrospective study, involving an institution.
Results:
We identified 481 patients who met the inclusion criteria, corresponding to 521 dissections. The average number of lymph nodes dissected was 44.92 (SD 16:45) lymph nodes to the RCT, 44.16 (SD 15.76) for the MRND + XI and 56.02 (SD 22.91) for the ECRM IJV + XI. The ANOVA indicated a statistically significant difference between groups (p<0.001). The type of neck dissection was not significant for regional recurrence or disease-specific survival.
Conclusion:
The use of modified neck dissection has no significant impact on the pathological staging, disease-free survival or disease-specific survival.
