Current status of neck dissection in the management of squamous carcinoma of the head and neck.

Classical radical neck dissection (RND) remains the primary treatment for clinically positive lymph nodes among patients with squamous carcinoma of the upper aerodigestive tract. Recurrence rates following RND range from 20 to 70% depending on the number of nodes involved and the extent of extracapsular spread. Modified radical neck dissection (MRND) is associated with less cosmetic and functional morbidity than RND but, used alone, MRND is only appropriate when clinical neck disease is absent or minimal. Both RND and MRND should be combined with adjuvant postoperative radiotherapy when more than one node is positive or extracapsular spread is present. This approach will significantly decrease regional failure, but may not improve survival because of an increased incidence of distant metastases. MRND is especially useful as an elective procedure to stage the clinically negative neck. A survival benefit from elective neck dissection, however, remains to be demonstrated.