Background: Recurrent head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) after radiation is associated with poor survival, and management of the clinically negative (N0) neck during salvage surgery is controversial.
Methods: Studies were selected according to preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses guidelines. Inclusion criteria were patients with HNSCC, prior radiation to the lateral neck nodal basin, undergoing salvage surgery for local recurrence, persistence or second primary, and N0 at time of salvage. Eleven studies with a total of 382 patients met inclusion criteria.
Results: The rate of occult metastasis was 15.4%. The pooled rate of occult nodal metastasis was 16.2% for oral cavity, 12.9% for oropharynx, 23.7% for hypopharynx, and 27.3% for supraglottic or transglottic tumors. There was a significantly higher relative risk of occult metastasis for locally advanced tumors.
Conclusion: Elective neck dissection at time of salvage surgery should be considered based on subsite, T classification, and prior history of nodal metastasis.
Keywords: head and neck cancer; neck radiation; nodal metastasis; occult metastasis; squamous cell carcinoma.
© 2020 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.