Original Article

Prospective trial to evaluate staged neck dissection or elective neck radiotherapy in patients with CT-staged T1-2 N0 squamous cell carcinoma of the oral tongue†

  1. Sinead Brennan FFR RCSI1,*,
  2. June Corry FRANZCR1,2,
  3. Stephen Kleid FRACS3,
  4. Sandro Porceddu FRANZCR1,
  5. Kally Yuen MSc2,4,
  6. Danny Rischin FRACP2,5,
  7. Lester J. Peters FRANZCR1,2

Article first published online: 1 JUL 2009

DOI: 10.1002/hed.21167

Issue

Head & Neck

Head & Neck

Volume 32, Issue 2, pages 191–198, February 2010

Additional Information

How to Cite

Brennan, S., Corry, J., Kleid, S., Porceddu, S., Yuen, K., Rischin, D. and Peters, L. J. (2010), Prospective trial to evaluate staged neck dissection or elective neck radiotherapy in patients with CT-staged T1-2 N0 squamous cell carcinoma of the oral tongue. Head & Neck, 32: 191–198. doi: 10.1002/hed.21167

Author Information

  1. 1

    Division of Radiation Oncology, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

  2. 2

    University of Melbourne, Grattan Street, Parkville, Victoria, Australia

  3. 3

    Department of Surgery, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

  4. 4

    Centre for Biostatistics and Clinical Trials, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

  5. 5

    Division of Haematology and Medical Oncology, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

*Division of Radiation Oncology, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

  1. †

    This article was presented at the First World Congress of the IAOO, Amsterdam, Netherlands, May 2007.

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 6 JAN 2010
  2. Article first published online: 1 JUL 2009
  3. Manuscript Accepted: 27 MAR 2009

SEARCH

SEARCH BY CITATION

ARTICLE TOOLS

View Full Article (HTML) Get PDF (113K)

Keywords:

  • oral tongue cancer;
  • elective neck treatment;
  • radiotherapy;
  • squamous cell carcinoma

Abstract

Background

A prospective study was undertaken to evaluate a policy of selective, single-modality elective neck treatment in T1-2, node-negative oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma.

Methods

Where the primary tumor showed 1 of the 4 key pathological criteria (greater than 7 mm of muscle invasion, less than 5 mm of resection margin, perineural or lymphovascular invasion), radiotherapy was delivered to the primary site and the at-risk undissected neck. Otherwise patients underwent ipsilateral neck dissection within 4 weeks of initial resection. Prospective quality of life assessments were performed.

Results

The study was closed after accrual of 25 patients, because the high locoregional recurrence rate met early stopping criteria. With a median follow-up of 3.4 years, the locoregional recurrence rate was 23%. The 4-year overall and disease-free survival rates were 71% and 64%, respectively.

Conclusion

The poor disease-free survival reflects the need for better prognostic markers and more aggressive treatment in these patients. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck, 2010

View Full Article (HTML) Get PDF (113K)