Evaluation of the Role of Neck Dissection in Patients with Verrucous Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Oral Cavity: A Cohort Study

Abstract

Introduction: Verrucous Carcinoma (VC), a well-differentiated Squamous Cell Carcinoma (SCC), commonly presents in the oral cavity, accounting for 2-16% of oral carcinomas. Though rare, it poses a challenge in establishing a pathological diagnosis, even in adequate biopsies, as 20% of Oral Cavity Verrucous Carcinoma (OVC) contains concomitant SCC. VC is primarily treated by surgery, similar to oral SCC. The role of neck dissection in oral SCC is well-established, but there is limited data on VC. Aim: To evaluate the role of neck dissection in the management of OVC. It also aimed to evaluate the clinicopathological demographics of OVC and identify predictors for survival outcomes. Materials and Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted using medical records of 2312 patients with oral carcinoma treated from January 2010 to December 2020 at Department of Surgical Oncology, Malabar Cancer Centre, Kannur, Thalassery, Kerala, India, a tertiary cancer centre under the Government of Kerala. Among 116 patients identified with VC, 49 patients met the inclusion criteria. The collected data was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0. The primary outcomes were overall survival rate and disease-free survival rate. Kaplan-Meier curves were constructed based on the survival data and compared using the log-rank test. Results: The mean age of the entire population was 62.8 years, with an age range of 40-90 years. Among the 2312 patients who underwent surgery for oral carcinoma, 49 (2.11%) patients were diagnosed with VC based on the final histopathology report. The majority of patients were diagnosed with early-stage disease on histopathological examination 36/49 (73.5%). A total of 34 patients received neck dissections, of which 13 patients (38.3%) had palpable nodes on presentation. All patients were node negative (PN0). On univariate analysis, neck dissection was not found to be a predictor of mortality or locoregional recurrence. There was no significant difference in overall survival rate (p=0.160) or disease-free survival rate (p=0.67) when comparing patients who underwent primary resection with neck dissection to those whose necks were kept under observation. Conclusion: The OVC has an excellent prognosis, and surgery remains the mainstay of treatment. The decision on neck dissection and the extent of neck dissection should be judiciously made based on the surgical approach and the procedure’s morbidity.