Comparative analysis of detecting cervical lymph node metastasis with fine needle aspiration cytology

OBJECTIVES: We correlated the results of cervical lymph node (LN) status by T-tumor size, N-nodal metastasis, M-distant metastasis (TNM) staging, and fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) in oral cancer patients to assess the discrepancy index (DI) between nodal metastasis (N) and FNAC results of cervicofacial LNs. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 63 patients (29 females and 34 males) aged from 30 to 85 years were included in our study. Cervical LN status through TNM staging and FNAC results were matched and DI was calculated. RESULTS: DI in case of nodal status was 64.10% and 43.47% for TNMN1 and N2, respectively, indicating that tendency for observation of positive result on FNAC increased from N1 to N2. CONCLUSION: Hence, we suggest that relying solely on clinical examination and routine diagnostic tests like FNAC may not be appropriate and additional diagnostic imaging modalities should be considered.