cN0舌鳞癌颈淋巴结微转移检测及其临床意义

Detection and Clinical Significance of Cervical Lymph Node Micrometastases in Patients with cN0 Tongue Squamous Cell Carcinoma

背景与目的:常规病理检查颈淋巴结阴性舌鳞状细胞癌(简称舌癌)术后出现颈部复发可能与微转移有关。本研究探讨临床颈部阴性(cN0)舌癌患者淋巴结微转移情况及其临床意义。方法:49例患者523枚颈淋巴结同时行常规HE染色和CK19免疫组化(IHC)染色,所有病例随访9～83(平均56)月。结果:HE染色检出5例患者7枚(1.3%)淋巴结转移;IHC染色检出19例34枚(6.5%)淋巴结转移,两种检测方法差异有统计学意义(P<0.05)。14例患者27枚(5.2%)淋巴结存在微转移。HE染色将3例cN0舌癌分期上升至pN1期,2例cN0上升至pN2b期;IHC染色将3例cN0舌癌分期上升至pN1期,16例cN0上升至pN2b期。淋巴结微转移与性别、年龄、T分期、分化程度和浸润深度无相关性(P>0.05)。有、无微转移患者5年生存率分别为78.5%和86.7%,两者之间差异无统计学意义(P>0.05)。结论:免疫组化染色可提高舌癌颈淋巴结转移的检出率和病理分期的准确性。本实验未能证明微转移与预后的关系,该问题仍有待进一步研究。

BACKGROUND ＆ OBJECTIVE： Postoperative relapse in tongue squamous cell carcinoma patients with pathologically negative cervical lymph node might be related to micrometastases. This study was to detect the lymph node micrometastases in cN0 tongue cancer patients, and explore its clinical significance. METHODS; A total of 523 cervical lymph nodes taken from 49 tongue cancer patients were examined by routine HE staining and immunohistochemistry （IHC） with anti-cytokeratin antibody （CK19） staining. The follow-up period ranged from 9 to 83 （mean 56） months. RESULTS： Metastases were detected in 7 （1.3%） lymph nodes from 5 patients with HE staining, and in 34 （6.5%） lymph nodes from 19 patients with CK19 staining. Micrometastases were detected in 27 （5.2%） lymph nodes from 14 patients. The difference in detecting lymph node metastases between two methods was significant （P=0.001）. HE staining upstaged 3 cases from cN0 to pN1, and 2 cases from cN0 to pN2b; IHC staining upstaged 3 cases from cN0 to pN1, and 16 cases from cN0 to pN2b. Lymph node micrometastases showed no correlation to sex, age, T stage, differentiation, and depth of primary tumor invasion （P〉0.05）. The 5-year survival rates of the patients with and without micrometastases were 78.5% and 86.7%, respectively （P〉0.05）. CONCLUSIONS： CK19 staining could increase the detection rate of cervical lymph node metastases and the accuracy of pathologic stage in tongue cancer. The results of our study showed that the presence of lymph node micrometastasis has no correlation to the prognosis. A further study is needed.