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Updated: May 20, 2026
Modified Radical Neck Dissection for Cervical Metastasis
Published on: February 20, 2026
Efficacy of super-selective neck dissection following chemoradiation for advanced head and neck cancer
K Thomas Robbins1, Muthuswamy Dhiwakar, Francisco Vieira
1Simmons Cancer Institute at SIU, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Springfield, IL 62794-9677, United States. trobbins@siumed.edu
Background:
Hypothesizing that neck-level specific locations of residual lymph node metastases following chemoradiation for head and neck cancer are highly predictable, the efficacy of the more targeted lymphadenectomy procedure called super-selective neck dissection (SSND) was evaluated.
Methods:
A retrospective analysis of the databases from 2 institutions indicated that 35 SSND's were performed on 30 patients following chemoradiation as either a planned or early salvage intervention.
Results:
Over a median follow-up of 33 (range: 8-72) months, 8 patients developed recurrent disease (3 primary, 5 distant) but there were no isolated recurrences in the neck. The projected 5 year disease specific survival rate for the group was 60%.
Conclusions:
SSND is an effective intervention for patients with advanced head and neck cancer treated with chemoradiation whose risk for residual nodal disease is confined to one level.