Nodal characteristics associated with adverse prognosis in oral cavity cancer are linked to host immune status.

ABSTRACT:

Background and objective

Nodal metastasis is one of the strongest predictors of outcomes in oral cavity squamous cell carcinomas (OSCC). The aim was to analyze the interplay of nodal characteristics in OSCC prognosis.

Methods

In this retrospective cohort study we included OSCC patients treated with primary surgery including neck dissection between 2005 and 2015 (n = 619). Disease-specific survival (DSS) was the primary endpoint. Optimal cutoffs were identified using recursive-partitioning analysis (RPA). A novel characteristic-metastatic focus-to-lymph node size ratio (MLR)-was introduced. We compared the American Joint Committee on Cancer, Eighth Edition (AJCC8) pN categories to a new categorization.

Results

Patients with higher neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio had mor

SUBMITTER: Valero C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7770005 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature