Frequency of Skip Metastases in Oral Cancer: An Overview

Abstract

Globally, over 3,00,000 people are diagnosed with oral cancer every year and it is considered as 8th most common malignancy worldwide. However, there is geographical variation; oral cancer being the 3rd most common in South East Asia which is 25 per 1,00,000 per annum. In the Indian subcontinent head and neck cancer accounts for 45% of all malignancy with oral cancer being the most common, accounting for 1/3rd of all cancers. Increasing number of head and neck cancer cases is a cause of major concern as it is associated with high morbidity and mortality. If oral cancer is detected early when confined to the mucosa only, the 5 years survival exceeds 80%. However, it drops to 40% in presence of regional metastases and to 20% in the presence of distant metastases. The prognosis worsens as the growth involves proximal to distal. Current knowledge of neck node metastases with special emphasis on skip meta stases in oral cancers is discussed.