Review Article

Focus Issue: Neck Dissection for Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Table 1

Frequency nodal level involvement in OPSCC based on ipsilateral versus contralateral neck evaluation (A), as well as clinical nodal status (B).

A. StudySiteLevel I (A/B)Level II (A/B)*Level IIILevel IVLevel V (A/B)*
Ipsi (%)Contra (%)Ipsi (%)Contra (%)Ipsi (%)Contra (%)Ipsi (%)Contra (%)Ipsi (%)Contra (%)

Grégoire and Lee [19]OPSCC132822423592133
Lindberg [8]Soft Palate(1.3/ 2.5)(1.3/1.3)37.512.511.32.52.5001.3
Tonsillar Fossa(0.7/1.4)(0/2.1)73.61017.96.4101.4103.6
BOT(1.1/5.4)(0.5/0)68.624.330.854.172.28.62.2
Oropharyngeal Walls(1.3/3.4)(0/0)52.314.120.83.44.729.44
Lim et al. [22]OPSCC83574550

B. StudyLevel ILevel II*Level IIILevel IVLevel V*
cN0 (%)cN+ (%)cN0 (%)cN+ (%)cN0 (%)cN+ (%)cN0 (%)cN+ (%)cN0 (%)cN+ (%)

MSK**OPSCC2152575194282729
Lim et al. [22]OPSCC09.9335

Ipsi: ipsilateral neck; Contra: contralateral neck; cN0: clinically negative neck; cN+: clinically positive neck; OPSCC: oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma; BOT: base of tongue.
*The importance of level IIB and V in OPSCC is discussed in the text under the subheading “Sequelae.”
**MSK: data from the Head and Neck Department at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center as presented by Grégoire and Lee [19].