Doumas, S, Fort-Schaale, A, Skoulakis, C et al. (2 more authors) (2019) Current thinking on the management of abnormal retropharyngeal nodes in patients with oral, oropharyngeal, and nasopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma: a structured review. British Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, 57 (6). pp. 515-528. ISSN 0266-4356
Abstract
The management of enlarged retropharyngeal lymph nodes (RLN) in patients with confirmed oral, oropharyngeal, or nasopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) has prognostic relevance and is a challenge for the clinical teams. There is, however, no consensus regarding their clinical management or radiographic evaluation. The aim of this review therefore was to present the current thinking on management to help improve outcomes. We searched several online databases using the key terms “retropharyngeal node”, “oral cancer”, “head and neck cancer”, “oropharyngeal cancer”, “nasopharyngeal cancer”, “nasopharynx”, “oral cavity”, “oropharynx”, “TORS”, and “radiotherapy”. A total of 1024 papers were screened, of which 32 were eligible. There was no consensus about the management of RLN. There is a lack of randomised studies and a lack of consistency in the presentation of results. Management should be tailored in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), and prophylactic irradiation is warranted as these nodes are at high risk of metastasis. In patients with non-NPC tumours, we prefer to resect them during primary operations when there is radiological uncertainty or evidence that they are affected, as the combination of radiological and histological outcomes will further our understanding. In both NPC and non-NPC tumours, sampling may also help to standardise the radiological criteria for the diagnosis of RLN by contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and positron emission tomography (PET) CT.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
---|---|
Authors/Creators: |
|
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2019 The British Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. This is an author produced version of a review published in British Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | retropharyngeal nodes; squamous cell carcinoma; oral; oropharyngeal; nasopharyngeal cancer |
Dates: |
|
Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Medicine and Health (Leeds) > School of Dentistry (Leeds) > School of Dentistry Visitors (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 29 Nov 2021 14:20 |
Last Modified: | 25 Jun 2023 22:50 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.bjoms.2019.04.017 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:180922 |
Download
Filename: Retropharyngealnodes in patients with oral-FINAL copy.pdf
Licence: CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0