Abstract
Introduction
Metastasis to retropharyngeal lymph nodes (RPLN) from oral squamous cell carcinoma
is rare and associated with poor outcomes. The poor prognosis of RPLN is multifactorial
and includes the clinicopathological aggressiveness of the primary disease and the
late presentation. The aim of this systematic review is to assess the evidence on
RPLN in patients diagnosed with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), the quality of
the diagnostic modalities and the available treatment options. We aimed to analyse
the overall survival of these patients diagnosed with RPLN.
Methods
A systematic review was undertaken according to the Preferred Reporting Items for
Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement guidelines. The initial literature
search generated 289 articles. A total of 11 papers satisfied our criteria. Eight
papers provided enough data to perform survival analysis and 3 papers compared the
diagnostic modalities used in the detection of RPLN.
Results
A total of 73 OSCC patients diagnosed with RPLN metastasis were identified. The most
common primary tumour subsites included the tongue (20), buccal mucosa (15) and gingiva
(11). The cumulative 5-year OS rate was 17.8% while the 2-year overall survival was
35.9%.
Conclusion
The presence of nodal metastasis is an independent prognostic factor in head and neck
cancer. In this study, RPLN metastasis had a poorer prognosis (5 years overall survival
is 17.8%) when compared to the survival rate of oral cancer without RPLN metastasis
(5 years overall survival is 40%). There was no statistically significant difference
between the overall survival in primary RPLN metastasis and recurrent RPLN disease.
Keywords
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Article Info
Publication History
Published online: June 09, 2021
Accepted:
June 1,
2021
Identification
Copyright
Crown Copyright © 2021 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The British Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. All rights reserved.
