Elective versus Therapeutic Neck Dissection in Node-Negative Oral Cancer

Whether patients with early-stage oral cancers should be treated with elective neck dissection at the time of the primary surgery or with therapeutic neck dissection after nodal relapse has been a matter of debate.

In this prospective, randomized, controlled trial, we evaluated the effect on survival of elective node dissection (ipsilateral neck dissection at the time of the primary surgery) versus therapeutic node dissection (watchful waiting followed by neck dissection for nodal relapse) in patients with lateralized stage T1 or T2 oral squamous-cell carcinomas. Primary and secondary end points were overall survival and disease-free survival, respectively.