Neck and Shoulder Morbidity in Patients with Oral Cancer and Clinically Negative Node Neck Status: A Comparison between the Elective Neck Dissection and Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy Strategies

• Published in: Healthcare (Basel) Vol. 10; no. 12; p. 2555
• Main Authors: van Hinte, Gerben, Withagen, Koen P A, de Bree, Remco, Speksnijder, Caroline M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01-12-2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Analysis; Biopsy; Cancer patients; Cancer therapies; Care and treatment; Complications and side effects; Diagnosis; Dissection; elective neck dissection; Head & neck cancer; Head and neck cancer; Informed consent; Lymph nodes; Lymphatic system; Mental health; Metastasis; Morbidity; Mouth cancer; neck and shoulder morbidity; Oral cancer; Patient outcomes; Patients; Physical therapy; Quality of life; Questionnaires; Radical neck dissection; Range of motion; sentinel lymph node biopsy; Shoulder; Squamous cell carcinoma; Surgery; Netherlands; United States > US; sentinel lymph node biopsy; elective neck dissection; head and neck cancer; lymph nodes; quality of life; neck and shoulder morbidity
• ISSN: 2227-9032; 2227-9032
• DOI: 10.3390/healthcare10122555

The choice for the most optimal strategy for patients with a cT
N
carcinoma of the oral cavity, sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) or elective neck dissection (END), is still open for debate in many head and neck cancer (HNC) treatment centers. One of the possible benefits of the less invasive SLNB could be reduced neck and shoulder morbidity. Recent studies have shown a benefit in favor of SLNB the first year after intervention, but the long-term consequences and differences in neck morbidity remain unclear. This cross-sectional study aimed to research differences in neck and shoulder morbidity and Health-Related Quality of Life (HR-QoL) in patients with a cT
N
carcinoma of the oral cavity, treated with either END or SLNB. Neck and shoulder morbidity and HR-QOL were measured with patient-reported questionnaires (SDQ, SPADI, NDI, NDII, EORTC-QLQ-C30, EORTC-QLQ-HN35) and active range of motion (AROM) measurements. In total 18 patients with END and 20 patients with SLNB were included. We found no differences between END and SLNB for long-term neck morbidity, shoulder morbidity, and HR-QOL. The significant differences found in the rotation of the neck are small and not clinically relevant.