Background: Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the oral tongue and floor of mouth are the most common head and neck cancers. Regional metastasis of SCC is most likely found at the cervical lymph node. Size and characteristics of pathologically suspicious lymph nodes are related to the aggressiveness of the primary tumor. The objective of this study is to analyze the correlation between sizes of cervical node and metastasis in SCC of oral tongue and floor of mouth.
Material and Method: Retrospective review was conducted from the patient’s charts between January 2008 and December 2012. Clinical, histopathology and surgical records were reviewed. Cervical lymph nodes of SCC of oral tongue and floor of mouth were reviewed and divided into four groups depending on their size (1-5 mm, 6-9 mm, 10-30 mm and more than 30 mm). A p-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results: 196 patients with SCC of the oral cavity were recorded. Sixteen patients of SCC of the oral tongue and 15 patients of SCC of the floor of mouth underwent neck dissection (641 cervical nodes). Most of the patients were diagnosed with stage 3 (41.94%). Extracapsular extension was found in 72.15% of SCC of oral tongue and 73.33 % of SCC of the floor of mouth. Size of cervical lymph nodes less than 10 mm was found to be metastasis at 9.27% and 10.82% of SCC of oral tongue and floor of mouth, respectively.
Conclusion: Cervical node metastasis can be found in SCC of the oral tongue and floor of mouth with clinically negative node and size of cervical node less than 10 mm. Here in, size of cervical node less than 10 mm was still important due to the chance for metastasis especially high grade tumors, advanced stage cancer and lymphovascular invasion.

Keywords: Squamous cell carcinoma, Oral tongue, Floor of mouth, Cervical lymph node