The impact of perineural invasion and/or lymphovascular invasion on the survival of early-stage oral squamous cell carcinoma patients.
BACKGROUND
For early-stage oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) patients, the impact of perineural invasion (PNI) and lymphovascular invasion (LVI) on disease control and survival has not been clarified.


METHODS
The medical records of all early-stage OSCC patients who underwent curative surgery between 2004 and 2009 were reviewed.


RESULTS
A total of 442 early stage patients were included in this study. There were 360 patients in group A (without PNI or LVI) and 82 patients in group B (with PNI and/or LVI). Between groups A and B patients, there were no significant differences in the 5-year disease-free survival (73.8 vs 68.7 %, p = 0.48) and overall survival (90.9 vs 86.1 %, p = 0.25). Between groups A and B patients without postoperative radiotherapy (PORT), there were no significant differences in the 5-year disease-free survival (73.8 vs 70.2 %, p = 0.51) and overall survival (90.9 vs 85.2 %, p = 0.18). Between group B patients with and without PORT, there was no significant difference in either the disease-free survival (61.1 vs 70.2 %, p = 0.98) and overall survival (88.9 vs 85.2 %, p = 0.64). Multivariate analyses revealed that PNI, LVI, and PORT could not provide significant effect on treatment outcome.


CONCLUSIONS
PNI and LVI were not significant risk factors for the disease control and overall survival for early stage OSCC patients. Furthermore, PORT could not provide an additional benefit for the disease control and overall survival for stages I and II OSCC patients with PNI and/or LVI.
Department of Otolaryngology, National Taiwan University Hospital, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan.
Tseng-Cheng
TC
Chen
Cheng-Ping
CP
Wang
Jeng-Yuh
JY
Ko
Tsung-Lin
TL
Yang
Chun-Wei
CW
Hsu
Kuo-An
KA
Yeh
Yih-Leong
YL
Chang
Pei-Jen
PJ
Lou
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001808:Blood Vessels / Q000473:pathology*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000556:secondary* / Q000601:surgery; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D042601:Lymphatic Vessels / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000601:surgery; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000473:pathology*; D010525:Peripheral Nerves / Q000473:pathology*; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D018714:Radiotherapy, Adjuvant; D012189:Retrospective Studies