Treatment of the contralateral negative neck in supraglottic cancer patients with unilateral node metastases (N1-3)

BACKGROUND: Elective treatment of the contralateral N0 neck in supraglottic cancer patients with unilateral metastases is controversial. METHODS: We reviewed 127 N1-3 cases with contralateral negative necks to compare elective contralateral dissection (ED: 24 cases) with a contralateral wait-and-see policy (WS: 103 cases) and subsequent delayed therapy (SDT: 40 cases) when contralateral disease became evident. Prognostic factors were studied to identify the risk of contralateral disease. RESULTS: Nine of 24 (37.5%) ED patients had occult contralateral metastases, and 40 of 103 (38.8%) WS patients had a delayed contralateral failure. Supraglottic cancers involving or extending up to the midline had a higher risk of contralateral metastases compared with well-lateralized tumors (p =.049). The risk of contralateral neck disease was more influenced by tumor site and stage than by histopathologic characteristics of ipsilateral metastases. WS patients with contralateral neck relapse showed a higher risk of distant metastases and of level I and V neck involvement than ED cases with no difference in terms of survival. CONCLUSIONS: The risk of contralateral occult neck involvement in supraglottic laryngeal cancers with unilateral metastases is high (about 40%), particularly for more advanced lesions extending to or involving the midline larynx; thus, a bilateral neck treatment in such cases is recommended.