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Contralateral neck failure in oral tongue cancer: Outcomes from two centers using predefined treatment criteria
Cristian Udovicich1,2, James Daniell3, David Wiesenfeld3
1Department of Radiation Oncology, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Background:
The objective was to determine the incidence of, and factors associated with contralateral neck failure (CNF) in oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma (OTSCC).
Methods:
Consecutive patients with OTSCC between 2007 and 2016 were included. The predefined policy of the contralateral neck included neck dissection (ND) where the primary tumor extended/crossed midline or the contralateral neck was involved; and elective nodal irradiation (ENI) where the primary tumor was ≤1 cm from midline/2 cm from tip.
Results:
This study included 258 patients. ND was ipsilateral 169 (66%) and bilateral 33 (13%). Fifty-five patients (21%) received ENI to the undissected contralateral neck. CNF occurred in 19 patients (7%) and was similar by treatment received. Utilizing this approach, we observed higher rates of CNF with increasing N classification, perineural invasion, extracapsular extension, and depth of invasion ≥6 mm.
Conclusions:
Using our institutional policy of treatment to the contralateral neck, a low rate of CNF (≤10%) was observed.
