Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy Versus Elective Node Dissection in Stage cT1‐2N0 Oral Cavity Cancer

xlomafota13 shared this article with you from Inoreader Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy Versus Elective Node Dissection in Stage cT1‐2N0 Oral Cavity Cancer Via The Laryngoscope Objective To compare overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) between sentinel lymph node biopsy (SNB) and elective neck dissection (END) in the surgical management of cT1-2N0 oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OCSCC). Methods English full-text articles were searched in PubMed and Embase on May 9, 2021. Articles had to compare SNB with END in cT1-T2N0 OCSCC patients; report hazard ratios (HRs), Kaplan–Meier curves, or P-values with total number of events for survival outcomes; be from a clinical trial, cohort, or case–control study. Two reviewers reviewed articles and a third settled disagreements. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines and the Risk of Bias in Non-randomized Studies of Interventions tool and revised Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for randomized trials were used. The generic inverse variance method with a random-effect model was used for meta-analysis. Results Ten studies, five retrospective, three prospective, and two randomized controlled trials, were included (total number of patients [n] = 10,498, END n = 9102, SNB n = 1396). No significant differences were found in OS (HR = 0.92; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.65–1.31) or DFS (HR = 0.70; 95% CI: 0.41–1.20). Heterogeneity was not detected in pooled OS analysis (P = .18; I 2 = 30%), but was in pooled DFS analysis (P = .003; I 2 = 66%). Conclusions No statistically significant differences in OS or DFS were observed between SNB and END in cT1-2N0 OCSCC, suggesting that SNB might be an alternative to END in the management of early-stage, clinically node-negative OCSCC. Laryngoscope, 2021 View on the web Inoreader. Take back control of your news feed. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.