Markers of neck failure in oral cavity and oropharyngeal carcinomas treated with radiotherapy

Background Neck management after radiotherapy remains controversial. It is not clear which patients may benefit from postradiotherapy neck dissection. Biologic markers may be useful in this setting. Method This study includes 81 patients with oral cavity and oropharyngeal carcinomas. The primary tumor had been treated with radical radiotherapy. Immunohistochemical staining to p53, ki‐67, NEU, HSP‐27, and GST has been performed. Results There were 50 T1–2 and 31 T3–4 patients, as well as 36 N0 and 45 N1–3. A total of 25 nodal failures was observed. With expressed HSP2, 23% of patients had neck failure compared with 51% when HSP‐27 was absent (p = .02). With NEU overexpression, nodal control decreased from 72% to 34% (p = .008). In a Cox model, NEU (p = .01) and HSP‐27 (p = .05) were associated with neck failure. Conclusions HSP‐27 and NEU expression may play a role in predicting nodal failure. This should be confirmed in a larger, prospective study. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Head and Neck 23: 87–93, 2001