What is it about?
• Laryngeal carcinoma is considered as the most common head and neck neoplasm, and the incidence of lymph node metastasis depends on the tumour stage. • Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) is an investigational tool in treatment of the clinical N0. • The aim of the study was to determine the accuracy of sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) in laryngeal carcinoma and whether it can be used in the diagnostic and therapeutic approach to the clinical N0 neck. • Forty-seven patients with laryngeal carcinoma were divided into N0 group (20 patients) and N+ positive group (27 patients). In the clinical N0 neck, there was a high degree of accuracy in staging the neck with a sensitivity of 100% and NPV of 100% when using a combination of lympho-scintigraphy, gamma probe and blue dye to identify the sentinel nodes, while SLNB is not accurate in the clinical N+ neck and cannot be relied upon in the therapeutic approach.
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Why is it important?
The results of our study show that the SLNB is not accurate in the clinical N+ neck and cannot be relied upon in the therapeutic approach to the clinical N+ neck.
Perspectives
Our results in the clinical N0 neck confirm this high degree of accuracy, suggesting that the technique was appropriate and adequate. Hence, the suboptimal accuracy of the SLNB in the clinical N+ necks can be assumed not to be related to technical issues or a ‘learning curve’ associated with the procedure, but reflects the inadequacy of SLNB as a staging tool in the clinically N+ neck.
Dr Mohamed Rifaat Ahmed
Suez Canal University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: The role of sentinel lymph node biopsy in the management of laryngeal carcinoma, Clinical Otolaryngology, February 2017, Wiley,
DOI: 10.1111/coa.12842.
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