Peculiarities of the metastatic involvement of the lymphatic nodes in patients with locally-advanced cancer of the oral cavity and oropharynx

Summary. Aim of the study – evaluate the efficacy of the certain type of lymph node dissection in patients with locally-advanced cancer of the oral cavity and oropharynx. We analyzed treatment results of 317 patients. All patients received combined treatment. Metastases to regional lymph nodes of the neck were diagnosed in 189 (59,6%) patients. Surgical management of the regional lymphatic system in patients with N1 status revealed that after selective neck dissection median survival was 14,7 months and after radical modified dissection — 12,4 (р=0,032). In majority of patients with N2 status of the regional lymph nodes we performed radical neck dissection and median survival was 12,7 months.). Relative stability of the survival endpoints for each N category indicated that the type of the lymph node dissection had been chosen correctly.