Neck Node Metastasis in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma: A Clinicopathological Analysis

Abstract

Objective: To identify the incidence of metastases from lymph nodes and its association with several clinicopathological variables.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study
Place and Duration of Study: This study was conducted at the oral and maxillofacial surgery department of Liaquat University of Medical and Health Science in Jamshoro carried out this study in October 2024 and
August 2025.

Methods: The study incorporated 117 cases of OSCC that were reported to our institute in total. All OSCC cases with biopsy evidence were included in the research. Data analysis was done using IBM SPSS Statistics v27.

Results: Of the 117 patients in the current study, 71.8% were men and 28.2% were women. The mean age was 45.52±12.31 years, and the majority (45.3%) were between the ages of 36 and 50. The tumor's average size was
1.17±0.97 cm, and its average depth of invasion was 3.31±1.71 cm. 51 out of 117 patients (43.6%) in our study had nodal metastatic disease. There was significant association of nodal metastasis with tumor size (p=0.018), depth of invasion (p=0.002), and stage (p=0.000).

Conclusion: We discovered significant association between nodal metastasis with tumor size, depth of invasion, stage, peri-neural invasion, and extra-nodal extension. Nodal metastasis was more common in patients who were male, older than 35, had moderately differentiated tumors, and had peri-neural invasion.