Importance of the Number and Location of Lymph Node Metastasis in Oropharyngeal Cancer.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND/AIM: The 8th edition of the American Joint Committee on Cancer staging system classifies oropharyngeal cancer (OPC) by the expression of p16. The discrepancy observed in this system between pathological and clinical N-stages in p16-positive OPC has provoked controversy. Therefore, this study investigated prognostic factors not included in the new staging system for p16-positive OPC patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients with non-metastatic OPC receiving radiotherapy were reviewed. Clinical lymph node statuses were reassessed based on contrast-enhanced computed tomography and fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography. Overall survival (OS) and cause-specific survival (CSS) were analyzed using multivariate analyses to adjust baseline imbalances. RESULTS: In total, 166 OPC patients were reviewed. Among them, 81 patients with p16-positive were analyzed. Three or more lymph node metastases (LNM) were observed in 21 p16-positive OPCs. Retropharyngeal lymph node metastasis (Rp) was found in 12. Three-year OS, CSS, and progression-free survival rates in p16-positive patients were 76, 88, and 81%, respectively. In multivariate analyses of p16-positive OPC, LNM ≥3 was a prognostic factor of OS (hazard ratio=9.30, p<0.001) and CSS (hazard ratio=17.80, p=0.005). Rp was associated with poor CSS (hazard ratio=8.73, p=0.03). In N0-1 p16-positive patients, LNM ≥3 trended to be associated with poor OS (hazard ratio=3.93, p=0.06). CSS in patients with Rp was unfavorable (hazard ratio=70.16, p=0.05). CONCLUSION: LNM ≥3 and Rp may be predictive of OS and CCS in p16-positive OPC. These are also possibly used to subcategorize p16-positive cN0-1 OPC. Further validation of lymph node staging is needed to refine the clinical staging system.