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Prognostic capacity of the weighted lymph node ratio in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma patients treated with salvage neck dissection

  • Head and Neck
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Abstract

Purpose

The aim of the study was to assess the prognostic capacity of the recently described weighted lymph node ratio (WLNR) in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) who undergo salvage neck dissection for regional recurrence.

Material and methods

We retrospectively studied 197 adult patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma treated with salvage neck dissection from 1990 to 2017.

Results

The mean value for the WLNR for all patients was 26.2%. We established a classification based on the WLNR values taking 10.8% as the cut-off point. Five-year disease-specific survival for patients with WLNR ≤ 10.8% (n = 89, 45.2%) was 39.9% (IC 95% 29.4–50.4%), and for patients with WLNR ≥ 10.8% (n = 108, 54.8%) it was 20.5% (IC 95% 12.3–28.7%) (p = 0.007). The multivariate analysis showed the WLNR had a significant prognostic capacity.

Conclusions

As a variable that integrates data related to the number of metastatic nodes with extracapsular spread to the LNR, the WLNR has a prognostic value in the pathological assessment of HNSCC patients with regional recurrence treated with salvage neck dissection.

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Data and materials will be freely available if needed.

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Funding

Grant from Plan Estatal de I + D + I del Instituto de Salud Carlos III: FIS PI19/01661 a XL (cofunded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), A Way to Build Europe).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery Department, Hospital de La Santa Creu I Sant Pau, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, C/ Mas Casanovas, 90, 08041, Barcelona, Spain

    Eduard David Neumann, María Casasayas, Alfons Gutierrez, Miquel Quer & Xavier León

  2. Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery Department, Hospital Parc Taulí, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Sabadell, Spain

    Aina Sansa

  3. Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Bioingeniería, Biomateriales y Nanomedicina (CIBER-BBN), Madrid, Spain

    Miquel Quer & Xavier León

Authors
  1. Eduard David Neumann
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  2. Aina Sansa
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  3. María Casasayas
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  4. Alfons Gutierrez
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  5. Miquel Quer
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  6. Xavier León
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Correspondence to Eduard David Neumann.

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All procedures performed in this study involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional, regional and national research committee and with the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Neumann, E.D., Sansa, A., Casasayas, M. et al. Prognostic capacity of the weighted lymph node ratio in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma patients treated with salvage neck dissection. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 278, 4005–4010 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-020-06598-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-020-06598-0

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