Radiotherapy as Elective Treatment of the Node-negative Neck in Oral Squamous Cell Cancer.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Previous studies of node-negative oral squamous cell carcinoma have shown a benefit of elective neck dissection compared to observation. Evidence for radiotherapy as single-modality elective treatment of the node-negative neck is so far lacking. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In a retrospective material of 420 early-stage oral cancers from 2000 to 2016, overall survival, disease-free survival, and regional relapse-free survival were calculated with the Kaplan-Meier method. RESULTS: At five years, overall survival was 59.7%, disease-specific survival was 77.2%, and regional relapse-free survival was 83.5%. Among those with adjuvant treatment of the neck after surgery of T1-T2 tumours during 2009-2016, regional relapse-free survival at five years was 85.7% for elective radiotherapy of the neck and 87.4% for elective neck dissection. CONCLUSION: Elective radiotherapy to the neck with a modern technique and adequate dose might be an alternative to neck dissection for patients with early-stage oral squamous cell cancer.