The Origin of Regional Failure in Oral Cavity Squamous Cell Carcinoma With Pathologically Negative Neck Metastases

Abstract

Pathologic staging underestimates the incidence of nodal metastases in cN+ disease. After correction for pathologically missed nodal metastases, radiologic evidence of neck nodes is an independent predictor of outcome, suggesting that traditional sampling during surgery might miss metastases, and this fact might explain the origin of treatment failure in these patients.