Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy for Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck

Abstract

Objectives: Determine the safety and reliability of sentinel lymph node biopsy for head and neck cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, the second most common skin cancer in the United States. Methods: One hundred four patients with cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck underwent sentinel lymph node biopsy at the University of Arizona Medical Center and the Southern Arizona Veterans Affairs Health Care System from 2001-2012. Detailed histological and clinical data was extracted from a retrospectively collected, institutional review board–approved data set. Results: This is the largest series to date of patients with cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck who have undergone sentinel lymph node biopsy. In this series, a sentinel lymph node was positive for metastatic disease in 6.7% of patients. The negative predictive value, the false negative rate, and the false omission rate will be reported. Correlations between sentinel lymph node status and various clinicopathologic properties including size, patient age, comorbidities, rate of growth, differentiation at biopsy, outcome, patterns of failure, and nodal burden will be described. Conclusions: Sentinel lymph node biopsy in patients with cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck is a safe and reliable strategy to identify those patients who may benefit from therapeutic lymph node dissection and adjuvant therapies.