Scientific paper
Management of cervical lymph node metastases in squamous cell carcinoma of the tonsillar fossa, base of tongue, supraglottic larynx, and hypopharynx,☆☆

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Abstract

  • 1.

    1. The records of 596 patients with previously untreated squamous cell carcinoma of the tonsillar fossa, base of the tongue, supraglottic larynx, and hypopharynx were reviewed to evaluate the efficacy of three modalities of initial treatment of cervical lymph nodes.

  • 2.

    2. Elective irradiation of the neck is indicated in patients with tumors of the tonsillar fossa and base of the tongue. For patients with lesions of the supraglottic larynx and hypopharynx and a clinically negative neck, elective irradiation of only the subdigastric and midjugular node areas is adequate if the primary lesion is treated with irradiation.

  • 3.

    3. In patients with clinically positive nodes, combined treatment is clearly superior to either radiation or surgery alone in preventing cervical recurrence in the initially involved side of the neck. Pre- and postoperative irradiation is equally effective.

  • 4.

    4. As the treatment policies have evolved, combined therapy has been used with increasing frequency, the order dictated by the treatment of the primary lesion.

References (2)

  • DS Berger et al.

    Elective irradiation of the neck lymphatics for squamous cell carcinomas of the nasopharynx and oropharynx

    Amer J Roentgen

    (1971)
  • GH Fletcher

    Elective irradiation of subclinical disease in cancers of the head and neck

    Cancer

    (1972)

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    Historically, advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) with nodal involvement was managed with a combined modality approach of (chemo)radiotherapy [1–4] and a planned neck dissection either before or after radiotherapy to maximise disease control [5,6].

  • The Evolving Role of Radiotherapy for Head and Neck Cancer

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This investigation was supported by USPHS Grants CA-06294, CA-05654, and CA-05099 from the National Cancer Institute.

☆☆

Presented at the First Joint Meeting of the American Radium Society, James Ewing Society, and the Society of Head and Neck Surgeons on the occasion of the Eighteenth Annual Meeting of the Society of Head and Neck Surgeons, Boca Raton, Florida, May 14–19, 1972.

1

From the Departments of Radiotherapy and Surgery, The University of Texas at Houston, M. D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute, Houston, Texas.

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