Retropharyngeal lymph node involvement in human papillomavirus-associated oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma

Michael Baxter, Jason Y. K. Chan, Wojciech K. Mydlarz, Salvatore V. Labruzzo, Ana Kiess, Patrick K. Ha, Aygun Nafi, Agrawal Nishant
2015 The Laryngoscope  
RESULTS Patient Eligibility: • Diagnosis was based on p16 positivity on immunohistochemistry and/or HPV positivity on in situ hybridization. • Patients were mostly treated with concurrent chemoradiation. • Those with PET/CT scans before and after treatment were investigated for RPLN positivity in the official radiology report of their imaging. PET/CT imaging: • RPLN positivity was defined as a lesion measuring 10 mm or larger in the shortest diameter on PET/CT and interpreted as a
more » ... l node by the radiologist on the imaging report. DISCUSSION This is a unique investigation utilizing PET/CT to classify RPLN status in HPV associated OPSCC. RPLN were a relatively uncommon finding in our HPV associated OPSCC cohort with pre-treatment nodal positivity of 3.4% compared to the quoted positivity of 10-27% for all OPSCC. A combination of PET/CT was found to be useful in identifying RPLN. Furthermore, the lack of an association between RPLN status and outcome was consistent with recent studies showing a diminished prognostic influence of lymph nodes in HPV associated OPSCC. Prospective investigation will be needed to determine the precise impact of RPLN on HPV associated OPSCC treatment and outcomes.
doi:10.1002/lary.25495 pmid:26227748 fatcat:iqwmb3a64ff75d6ojoptc3y3dm