Tumor Thickness and Paralingual Distance of Coronal MR Imaging Predicts Cervical Node Metastases in Oral Tongue Carcinoma

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE:The presence of cervical lymph node metastases is an important prognostic factor for oral tongue cancer. The accurate preoperative assessment is essential for treatment. Several studies have suggested that histologic tumor thickness is related to the metastases. The aim of this study was to determine whether MR images of oral tongue tumor have the potential to predict cervical lymph node metastases.

Predicting the Prognosis of Oral Tongue Carcinoma Using a Simple Quantitative Measurement Based on Preoperative MR Imaging: Tumor Thickness versus Tumor Volume

“…Our study found that the MR imaging-based tumor thickness might be a significant predictor of lymph node metastases, which is similar to findings in previous studies. [5][6][7]14 However, MR imaging-based tumor thickness appears unhelpful for predicting local recurrence (P ϭ .153), despite the prominently significant results from the univariate analysis (P ϭ .020). Several previous studies indicated that tumor thickness might be a potentially significant predictor of local recurrence 4,15,16 ; however, all these previous measurements were based on histologic specimens.…”

“…Concerning its clinical significance, we suggest that the decision for neck dissection should be made if the tumor thickness exceeds 8.5 mm. However, considering that the precise cutoff point varied greatly among previous studies, 5,6,[17][18][19] more accurate results should be clarified in a prospective study by using a larger sample size.…”

“…3,[5][6][7] Tumor thickness was defined as the distance from the tumor surface to the deepest point of invasion. Meanwhile, after the lesion-involving area in each section was delineated by using an operatordefined ROI, the tumor volume was obtained from the sum of the areas multiplied by the section interval.…”

“…[1][2][3] Previous studies indicated that tumor thickness or tumor volume might also be helpful predictors for the clinical outcomes of patients with oral tongue SCC, such as cervical lymph node metastases, local recurrence, or survival rate. [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] Which one of these 2 parameters has a better prognostic value is still unclear, however, with only a few studies focusing on this issue. Yuen et al 4 compared the prognostic value of these 2 parameters, tumor thickness and tumor volume, together with other parameters such as tumor diameter, length, width, and area.…”

Management for the N0 Neck of SCC in the Oral Cavity

“…We have verified MRI tumor thickness in patients with oral tongue SCC. (Okura et al 2008) Coronal MRI was preferred to measure tumor thickness than axial image (Figure 3). Fig.…”