514 / 1481
Risks of no treatment of the “negative” neck
• Regional failure;
• Occult lymph node metastases.
E.g.
, SCC of the supraglottis:
•
Up to 33% N0 became N+ without treatment.
•
Up to 26% cN0 became pN+ after lymph node dissection.
Mendenhall et al.
Head Neck Surg
1980; 3:15-20.