Estudio del ganglio centinela en tumores de labio y cavidad oral

Objectives: This study shows the results obtained by the application of the sentinel node (SN) in oral and lip cancer and performs a lymphatic map of these tumours. Patients and method: We prospectively studied 14 patients with lip and oral tumours, all of them N0. We injected colloidal particles of serum albumin labeled with Tc-99 peritumoraly and we located the SN intraoperatively. The SN was then sent for anatomopathological study. Results: Sentinel node was identified in all of the patients. In 11 of them the sentinel node was negative for metastases and correctly predicted the status of the neck. In 3 patients the sentinel node was the only node that contained metastases. There were no false negatives. The sensibility of the technique was 100%. Conclusions: The results showed that this technique is a feasible method for tumours in these locations and can avoid neck dissections in N0 patients.