Tissue expression of miR-449a as risk factor for occult neck metastasis in patients with cT3-T4 N0 laryngeal cancer. A pilot study.
Filippo RicciardielloMichela FalcoAlfonso ScarpaGiovanni MottaPasquale ViolaMarco BocchettiMichele CaragliaNello AlfieriFlavia OlivaChiara TammaroGiuseppe TortorielloMarco RadiciAngelo CamaioniGabriella MissoPietro De LucaPublished in: European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery (2024)
Super-selective ND (sparing the sub evels IIb and IV) might be the approach to cT3-T4 N0 LSCCs with upregulation of miR-449a; on the other hand, to ensure and effective control of occult neck metastases it would be appropriate to reserve elective ND (including sublevels IIb and IV) for cT3-T4 N0 LSCCs with miR-449a downregulation. Although promising, due to the small size of the cohort, the results of this work can be considered preliminary and need to be confirmed by prospective and larger studies.