Sampling of jugulo-digastric lymph nodes in oral cancer

A modified method of histologic sampling involving multiple blocks has been applied to 37 jugulo-digastric nodes dissected from freshly submitted neck dissection specimens from patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). Seventeen of these nodes had been found to be free from tumor following standard sampling. The method was also applied to a further 29 jugulo-digastric nodes that had been previously reported as being free from metastatic tumor. Only one of the 46 nodes previously reported as negative was found to contain secondary tumor following more extensive sampling.