Prognostic Significance of Lymph Node Status in p16+ Oropharyngeal Cancer After Surgical Treatment.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: In this study, we retrospectively reviewed medical records of patients who underwent surgery for p16+ oropharyngeal cancer and analyzed the prognostic implications of pathologic lymph node (LN) status, including number of metastatic LNs, LN ratio, and location of metastatic LNs. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective case series. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed data on patients diagnosed with p16+ oropharyngeal cancer. RESULTS: The study population consisted of 159 males and 29 females with a mean age of 57.2 years. The primary tumor sites were tonsils (n = 160), base of the tongue (n = 24), and soft palate (n = 4). Only recurrence-free survival (RFS) showed a significant correlation with contralateral LN metastasis on multivariate analysis. On Kaplan-Meier analysis, 5-year RFS was 92.4% in patients without contralateral LN metastasis and 68.8% in patients with contralateral LN metastasis. CONCLUSIONS: Among pathologic LN status in p16+ oropharyngeal cancer, only contralateral LN metastasis showed prognostic significance in disease recurrence of p16+ oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma patients. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE 4 Laryngoscope, 130 1973-1979, 2020.