8th Baltic Congress of Radiology

08.10.2022  Tallinn, Estonia

Presentation

Terrace Hall

Synopsis: Sedentes agamus – sentinel lymph node biopsy in head and neck cancer Sentinel node biopsy (SLB) is a widely used method in breast cancer and melanoma cases. This method could be a reasonable choice for T1/2 head and neck cancer to avoid elective neck dissection and the resulting impact on patients’ quality of life. However, in many cases of head and neck cancers, the SLB technique remains controversial due to several reasons. Head and neck cancers can involve different anatomical structures in the nasopharynx, oral cavity, oropharynx, larynx and hypopharynx. One SLB approach cannot account for such differences in anatomical location. In cases of oral cavity and oropharynx cancers, there are established methods for sentinel node biopsy, whereas in cases of laryngeal, and hypopharyngeal cancers the SLB methodology is not widely used due to a lack of consensus regarding radiotracer injection, accurate radiopharmaceutical dose calculation, patient scanning and operation management. Publications about laryngeal SLB typically include small study populations and there are only a few studies on thyroid and salivary gland SLB. Therefore, they are not routinely used in clinical practice. Overall, SLB is a controversial but promising methodology for the personalized treatment of head and neck cancers. During the talk, we will address the main issues and discuss the limitations regarding its application, technical details, procedure management and team preparation.

This agenda item is presented in the following session: S6-4 Head and Neck

Plenary session

08.10.2022 11:00 - 12:30