Sentinel Node Imaging in Head and Neck Tumors



Sentinel Node Imaging in Head and Neck Tumors


Sandro J. Stoeckli

Christina M. Thuerl






Introduction

Metastatic involvement of cervical lymph nodes is the most important prognostic factor for patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. With the occurrence of neck metastases, the survival rate drops by 50%. Clinically apparent lymph node metastases have to be treated by surgery or radiation or a combination of both. The management of the cN0 neck is still controversial, although most centers advocate elective neck treatment, as the risk of occult metastases in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma is greater than 20% to 30% (1). Given these figures, as many as 70% of patients with a cN0 neck will undergo an unnecessary neck dissection. Sentinel node biopsy (SNB) has been introduced for the treatment of early oral and oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma and has shown promising results (2,3). Sentinel node biopsy seems to be able to accurately stage the cN0 neck and appropriately select patients who will benefit from elective neck dissection. The goal of sentinel node biopsy is to avoid unnecessary neck dissections in clinically N0 patients and thus decrease patient morbidity and health care costs.

Lymphatic mapping for the localization of the sentinel nodes includes preoperative lymphoscintigraphy. Lymphoscintigraphy assesses the individual lymphatic drainage pattern (4,5). In head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, the first successful sentinel node biopsy after lymphoscintigraphy was performed in 1996 (6). Since then, many other centers have adopted the technique and published promising results (7). The average rate for detecting a sentinel node with lymphoscintigraphy and the intraoperative use of a handheld gamma probe is 95% to 100%. Most authors stress that preoperative lymphoscintigraphy is pivotal in guiding the surgeon to the sentinel nodes and in visualizing unexpected drainage patterns (8). Different authors (9,10) share this opinion in the case of squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma of the head and neck, reporting on unpredictable sentinel lymph node sites that would not have been addressed by routine elective lymph node dissection.

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Jul 27, 2016 | Posted by in GENERAL RADIOLOGY | Comments Off on Sentinel Node Imaging in Head and Neck Tumors

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