Harish Iyyanna1, Nandini V2
BACKGROUND
Gingivo-buccal mucosa complex cancer is commonly seen in India. Neck node involvement is the single most important predictor of outcome for oral cancer as the survival rate drops significantly with presence of metastatic neck node.
OBJECTIVES
To compare efficacy of clinical, radiological findings with histopathological findings in diagnosing the cervical node metastasis of buccal mucosa carcinoma.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
100 patients with biopsy proven squamous cell carcinoma of gingiva-buccal complex were included. Clinical, radiological and histopathological investigations were done to determine the cervical node metastasis and to compare the efficacy.
RESULTS
Mean age of the study subjects was 49.87 years. Nodal metastases from primary buccal mucosa carcinoma occur in orderly manner involving level I, II, III. There was a statistically significant difference between the clinical nodal staging with that of the radiological nodal staging, and radiological nodal staging with that of pathological nodal staging. Clinical and radiological nodal staging had low sensitivity and high specificity in comparison with pathological nodal staging.
CONCLUSION
In the present study, the level I and II were the commonest nodal station involved. Level IV involvement was rare. Clinical and radiological nodal staging had low sensitivity and high specificity in comparison with pathological nodal staging.
