Squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck treated with radiotherapy: does planned neck dissection reduce the change for successful surgical management of subsequent local recurrence?

For patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck whose primary lesion is managed with radiotherapy, radiotherapy alone or in combination with neck dissection may be used to treat clinically positive neck nodes. Although these two treatment options produce similar control rates for small mobile nodes, it is our impression that radiotherapy plus neck dissection is the preferred treatment for more advanced neck disease. The question that arises is whether the addition of a neck dissection after radiotherapy will decrease the likelihood of successful surgical management of a subsequent recurrence at the primary site. In an effort to answer this question, the records of 227 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck were reviewed. All patients had clinically positive neck nodes and were treated with radiotherapy alone to the primary lesion. There was no apparent difference in the rate of disease control at the primary site or in the ability to manage patients successfully who developed a local recurrence when comparing patients initially treated with radiotherapy alone to those managed by radiotherapy and neck dissection. We conclude that postradiotherapy neck dissection does not decrease the likelihood of successfully managing a recurrence at the primary site.