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Depth of Invasion, Lymphovascular Invasion, and Perineural Invasion as Predictors of Neck Node Metastasis in Early Oral Cavity Cancers

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Abstract

Aims

The present study examines the role of demographic and pathological features of primary tumours in predicting neck metastasis in early oral cavity cancers, which has been a matter of debate.

Methods

A single-centre, retrospective, institution review was conducted of all the patients presented to our centre from January 2014 to December 2021. Patient characteristics were compared between the two lymph node groups (lymph node positive and lymph node negative) and significant prognostic factors were determined.

Results

A total of 462 oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) patients were included, 407 male and 55 female. Tobacco chewing (59.2%) was a major habit with buccal mucosa (49.5%) and tongue (44.8%) as primary sites. The majority of the patient’s histology was of SCC (96.8%) with grade II (moderately differentiated, 74.5%). Univariate logistic regression analysis to predict lymph node metastasis showed pT size (< 0.001), LVI (< 0.001), and PNI (< 0.001) as significant tumor characteristics. On multivariate, pT size (OR-1.58, P – 0.0001) and LVI (OR-19.70, P – 0.0001) were reported to be statistically significant to predict lymph node metastasis.

Conclusion

Reporting and studying the clinico-pathological features of primary tumors can give vital information in predicting the neck node metastasis in OSCC patients.

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Data Availability

The data analysed during the current study are not publicly available. They are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Dr. Yasam Venkata Ramesh from HCG Manavata cancer centre, Centre for difficult cancers (CDC), Nashik, India, for his medical writing assistance.

Funding

The authors declared that this study has received no financial support.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiation Oncology, HCG Manavata Cancer Centre, Nashik, Maharashtra, 422011, India

    Prakash Pandit, Roshankumar Patil & Vijay Palwe

  2. Department of Pathology, HCG Manavata Cancer Centre, Nashik, Maharashtra, 422011, India

    Sucheta Gandhe, Dhruti Manek & Rahul Patil

  3. Department of Surgical Oncology, HCG Manavata Cancer Centre, Nashik, Maharashtra, 422011, India

    Sirshendu Roy & Raj Nagarkar

  4. Department of Academics, HCG Manavata Cancer Centre, Nashik, Maharashtra, 422011, India

    Venkata Ramesh Yasam & Viren Raj Nagarkar

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Contributions

Concept–PP, RKP, VP; Design–PP, RKP, VP; Supervision–PP, RKP, VP, RN; Materials–PP, RKP, VP, SG, DM, RP, SR, RN; Data Collection and/or Processing–PP, RKP, VP, SG, DM, RP, SR, YVR, VRN, RN; Analysis and/or Interpretation–PP, RKP, VP, SG, DM, RP, SR, YVR, RN; Literature Search—PP, RKP, YVR; Writing Manuscript—YVR; Critical Review—PP, RKP, RN.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Prakash Pandit.

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The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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The manuscript has got an ethical review exemption from the Ethical review committee of our hospital as retrospective studies are exempted from review according to our ERC’s policy.

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Pandit, P., Patil, R., Palwe, V. et al. Depth of Invasion, Lymphovascular Invasion, and Perineural Invasion as Predictors of Neck Node Metastasis in Early Oral Cavity Cancers. Indian J Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 75, 1511–1516 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12070-023-03637-0

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