Level IIB neck lymph nodes- Involvement in Oral carcinoma

Metastases are the major cause of death from cancer. The treatment for metastases in cases of oral cancer can be done through surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy or combination of any of these. When opting for surgery, the neck dissection is inevitable. Neck dissection can bring significant amount of morbidity as it requires great expertise and knowledge of structures to be removed and preserved. Selective neck dissection is becoming quite popular today and its efficacy is also proven. But the dissection of Level IIB nodes (closely related to cranial nerve XI, the spinal accessory nerve) posses a threat to neck function. This study presents a relation between site and size of oral tumor with metastases to different levels of nodes in neck and especially to level IIB nodes.