Objectives
Lymphatic mapping is an established technique to map drainage patterns in oral cancer. Its utility in patients who have undergone prior radiation or neck dissection is not well studied.
Methods
Patients presenting to a single tertiary cancer center between 2021–2023 for a recurrent/second oral cancer that underwent lymphatic mapping were considered. All patients had a history of a head and neck cancer treated with either radiation or neck dissection. We further conducted a scoping review in MEDLINE, Embase, and Web of Science of lymphatic mapping in oral cancer patients with previous neck treatment.
Results
In our single center review, a total of 11 patients were included. 73 % received prior radiotherapy and 55 % underwent prior neck dissections for a head and neck cancer. Lymphoscintigraphy-directed neck dissections identified sentinel nodes in 9/11 patients, with only one patient who had positive sentinel node disease. There were no reports of regional recurrence at a median of 10 months follow-up. Our scoping review of 980 studies identified 151 additional patients who underwent sentinel node biopsy for a second oral cancer after previous neck treatment. Overall, the negative predictive value of lymphatic mapping in all studies was 96.7 %.
Conclusion
Lymphatic mapping is feasible in secondary or recurrent oral cavity cancers even in patients with prior radiation or surgical management of the neck. The literature to date demonstrates a negative predictive value of ∼ 97 % for sentinel node mapping and warrants further consideration in the management of salvage oral cancer.