Diagnostic evaluation of sentinel lymph node biopsy in early head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) in early head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). METHODS The PubMed database was searched for studies published before October 31, 2012. Pooled values for the sentinel lymph node identification rate, sensitivity, false-negative rate, negative predictive value, and accuracy were calculated. RESULTS A total of 16 studies (987 patients) was included. The pooled identification rate, sensitivity, false-negative rate, negative predictive value, and accuracy were 95.2%, 86.3%, 13.7%, 94.2%, and 95.0%, respectively. The subgroup with high methodological quality showed a mean identification rate of 95.4% for SLNB validation trials and 94.2% for SLNB alone trials, and mean sensitivity of 91.0% for SLNB validation trials and 84.2% for SLNB alone trials. CONCLUSION The SLNB procedure has shown a high sensitivity rate, but the pooled sensitivity and false-negative rate were worse in SLNB alone trials than in SLNB validation trials.