Neck dissection after concurrent chemoradiotherapy for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma with cervical metastases

To examine the effect of preoperative concurrent chemoradiotherapy for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma with cervical metastases, we reviewed pN, the locoregional recurrence rate, and the salvage rate of recurrence cases at our institution. The average term from concurrent chemoradiotherapy to neck dissection was 3.1 weeks. The pN0 rate was 62% for all cases. For the recurrence rate of primary tumor, there was no significant difference-in the degree of progress of -primary tumor at the start of treatment, but in the pN (+) cases, there was significantly more progress than in the pN0 cases (p<0.05). The pN (+) rate was 38% after concurrent chemoradiotherapy, so it is necessary for the case to show cervical metastasis at the start of treatment in order to perform neck dissection. Furthermore, it appears that pN (+) cases are at higher risk of recurrence of primary tumor and so require careful follow-up.