REGIONAL LYMPH-NODE INVOLVEMENT AFFECTS THE INCIDENCE OF DISTANT METASTASIS IN TONGUE SQUAMOUS-CELL CARCINOMAS

Locoregional control of tongue cancer has improved However, the incide nce of distant metastases is rising, and a significant increase in lon g-term survival has failed to materialize. In ow study, twenty-two (9. 9%) of the 223 patients presented distant metastases. The incidence of distant metastases was significantly related to the tumor size and th e regional lymph node involvement. Large (T4) lesions showed a higher risk for having distant metastases than T1-3 lesions (p < 0.01). The g roup with pathologic presence of disease in the neck lymph nodes had m ore-than three times as many distant metastases as did those with path ologic absence (8.1% versus 26.8%). Moreover, 8 out of 13 (61.5%) pati ents with mole than four pathologic positive lymph node had distant me tastasis. Tongue carcinoma patients with T4 lesion and four ol mole po sitive nodes had the highest risk of distant metastases and these pati ents may benefit from adjuvant systemic treatment.