Validation of the pathological classification of lymph node metastasis for head and neck tumors according to the 8th edition of the TNM Classification of Malignant Tumors

摘要

Objectives: One of the main changes in the 8th edition of the TNM Classification for head and neck tumors is the inclusion of extracapsular spread (ECS) as a criterion for evaluating the regional extension, both clinical (cN) and pathological (pN). The objective of our study is to evaluate the prognostic capacity derived from the inclusion of the ECS in the pathological classification of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients treated with a neck dissection, as established by the 8th edition TNM Classification.