title: [Positive lymph node ratio is an important prognostic factor of oral squamous cell carcinoma].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the cutoff value and significance of lymph node ratio (LNR) in oral squamous cell carcinoma.
  
  
  METHODS
  This retrospective study included 286 patients with oral cancer and pathological positive lymph nodes. Used time-dependent receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves to determine which LNR best defines different risk groups of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) patients. All the variables were subjected to the univariate analysis, then only the variables that had prognostic potential were subjected to multivariate analysis by the COX proportional hazards regression model.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The cutoff value of LNR was 0.092. When LNR was greater than 0.092, the overall survival rate was 24.2%, when LNR was less than 0.092, the overall survival rate was 45.8% (P<0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Lymph node ratio is a predictor of outcome in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma, and the cutoff value is 0.092.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Peking University School and Hospital of Stomatology, Beijing 100081, China.
authors.forename: Shuang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Diancan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Xiao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Chi
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mao
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000473:pathology*; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology*; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012372:ROC Curve; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate