Source: www.medpagetoday.com Author: Charles Bankhead Patients with early-stage oral cavity cancers had similar survival with less neck disability with a less invasive approach to lymph node assessment, a multicenter randomized study showed. The 3-year overall survival (OS) rate was 87.9% with sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) and 86.6% with elective node dissection (ND). The 3-year disease-free survival (DFS) rate was 78.7% versus 81.3% in the SLNB and ND groups. Both outcomes met statistical criteria for noninferiority of the two approaches to lymph node assessment. The SLNB group had significantly better scores on a test of neck function, reported Yasuhisa Hasegawa, MD, PhD, of Asahi University Hospital in Gifu, Japan, and co-authors. "SLNB-navigated ND is noninferior and less invasive than elective ND," the authors wrote in the paper online in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. "The results of this study may promote a widespread use of SLNB (for early-stage OCSCC [oral-cavity squamous cell carcinoma]) worldwide." The results added to a growing volume of evidence suggesting similar outcomes between SLNB and the more-invasive ND. Last year a randomized study from France showed a 2-year relapse-free survival rate of 89-91% with the two approaches to lymph node assessment in oral and oropharyngeal cancer. A large retrospective cohort study resulted in similar OS and a shorter hospital stay as compared with ND. Multiple studies have demonstrated improved functional outcomes and lower complication rates with SLNB, the authors noted. Optimal management of clinically node-negative early-stage OCSCC remains controversial. Advantages have been reported for observation, ND, [...]