ArticleCureus2019
Omitting Elective Irradiation of the Contralateral Retropharyngeal Nodes in Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma Treated with Intensity-modulated Radiotherapy.
Article in Cureus, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Prevalence and prognostic impact of retropharyngeal lymph nodes metastases in oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma: Meta-analysis of published literature.Head & neck · 2022Pooled it
- Timing of radiotherapy and chemotherapy start for patients treated with definitive concurrent chemoradiation for head and neck cancer.Acta oncologica (Stockholm, Sweden) · 2022Article
- Chemoradiotherapy with high-dose cisplatin compared with weekly cisplatin for locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.Journal of medical imaging and radiation oncology · 2021Article
- Comparing Outcomes for Patients with Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Type 16 versus Other High-Risk HPV Types in Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma.Head and neck pathology · 2021Article
- Retropharyngeal lymph node-sparing radiotherapy in patients with oropharyngeal carcinoma.Radiation oncology journal · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionThe use of intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) in head and neck cancers has allowed for selective sparing of low-risk or uninvolved lymph nodes. In oropharyngeal cancers, the benefits and risks of omitting contralateral retropharyngeal lymph nodes (RPLN) remain uncertain. This study examines the outcomes of elective coverage of contralateral RPLN in oropharyngeal cancer treated with definitive IMRT.
methodsWe analyzed 54 patients with newly diagnosed unilateral tonsil or base of tongue squamous cell carcinoma with at most unilateral neck involvement (cN0-N2b) and no RPLN involvement. These patients had no prior head and neck irradiation and were treated with definitive radiotherapy or chemoradiotherapy between 2012 and 2017. Cumulative incidences of local/regional/distant failure were estimated using competing risks methodology, and overall survival (OS) was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method.
resultsAll patients received elective nodal coverage to the ipsilateral RPLN, and 38 (62%) patients did not receive elective treatment of the contralateral RPLN. There were no significant differences in baseline characteristics. There were no contralateral RPLN failures observed. When comparing patients who received contralateral RP treatment with those who did not, there were no significant differences in two-year local failure (23% vs. 9%, p = 0.09), regional failure (18% vs. 4%, p = 0.12), or distant failure (15% vs. 9%, p = 0.62). Two-year OS was 89%. Mean parotid dose was not significantly lower after sparing vs. treating the contralateral RPLN (median 25.6 vs. 32.7 Gy, p = 0.15).
conclusionsThe omission of contralateral RPLN irradiation in tonsil or tongue base carcinomas with unilateral neck involvement is safe without compromising disease control.
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