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Current Oncology Reports
Published in: Current Oncology Reports 2/2010

01-03-2010

Oral Cavity Squamous Cell Carcinoma and the Clinically N0 Neck: The Past, Present, and Future of Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy

Authors: Andrew Coughlin, Vicente A. Resto

Published in: Current Oncology Reports | Issue 2/2010

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Abstract

Oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OCSCC) has a yearly incidence of 274,000 patients. Twenty percent to 30% of patients will harbor occult regional metastases, an important feature that correlates with worse outcomes. Supraomohyoid neck dissection (SND) is the gold standard treatment, but because of recent successes of sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy in the management of breast cancer and melanoma, many have begun evaluating its use in head and neck mucosal cancers. SLN biopsy offers patients decreased morbidity compared with SND, and has shown reproducibly low false-negative rates, high-negative predictive values, and high sensitivities. Limitations with floor-of-mouth primaries and delayed secondary SNDs have been described, but a new agent designed to address these shortcomings, Lymphoseek (Neoprobe Corp.; Dublin, OH), is currently under investigation. This article reviews the current literature on SLN biopsy and introduces a phase 3 study evaluating the efficacy of Lymphoseek in SLN biopsy of OCSCCs.
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Metadata
Title
Oral Cavity Squamous Cell Carcinoma and the Clinically N0 Neck: The Past, Present, and Future of Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy
Authors
Andrew Coughlin
Vicente A. Resto
Publication date
01-03-2010
Publisher
Current Science Inc.
Published in
Current Oncology Reports / Issue 2/2010
Print ISSN: 1523-3790
Electronic ISSN: 1534-6269
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11912-010-0090-7

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