title: Elective neck dissection versus observation in early stage oral squamous cell carcinoma: recurrence and survival.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the results of elective neck dissection versus those of observation in the treatment of early stage oral squamous cell carcinoma and to identify factors related to recurrence and survival.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a retrospective study of 52 patients who underwent elective neck dissection and 27 who did not receive neck dissection.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In survival analyses, elective neck dissection showed a benefit in overall recurrence (P=0.027), especially in stage I patients (P=0.024). With regard to survival, the benefit was statistically insignificant (P=0.990). In multivariable analysis, overall recurrence was independently related to poor histologic grade (odds ratio [OR]=9.65,P=0.006), and cancer-specific death was independently related to advanced age (OR=6.3,P=0.022), higher clinical T stage (OR=15.2,P=0.01), and poorly differentiated histologic grade (OR=6.6,P=0.025).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Though there was lower recurrence in the elective neck dissection group, there were no statistically significant results on survival. The characteristics of the tumor itself, such as clinical T stage and poor histologic grade, may be more important in cancer-specific survival.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Yonsei University College of Dentistry, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Dong Wook
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-6167-6475
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Yonsei University College of Dentistry, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Ba-Da
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-5953-9524
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Yonsei University College of Dentistry, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jung Hwan
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-6076-7252
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Ewha Womans University Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jung-Hyun
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-5297-5059
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Yonsei University College of Dentistry, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Woong
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-0146-3624
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Nam
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Yonsei University College of Dentistry, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyung Jun
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-3364-9995
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Yonsei University College of Dentistry, Seoul, Korea.; Oral Cancer Research Institute, Yonsei University College of Dentistry, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: In-Ho
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-8259-2190
authors.initials: IH
authors.lastname: Cha
keywords: Neck dissection; Oral cancer; Squamous cell carcinoma; Survival analysis; Survival rate