Die prognostische Signifikanz eines perinodalen Wachstums bei Patienten mit Plattenepithelkarzinom im Kopf- Hals- Bereich - Eine Metaanalyse-

To assess the risk factor of capsular rupture for individual prognosis and potential therapeutic decision making, the present meta- analsis elaborated the prognostic significance of perinodal spread in a large group of patients suffering from HNSCC. A review of the published literature was conducted, and fixed and random effects models were applied for estimation of the summarized odds ratio and 95% confidence intervals, including a test for homogeneity of the odds ratios. Study methology allowed the enrollment of only 9 studies of 115 published papers. Excluded studies lacked regarding primary tumour location, number and location of lymph node metastases, values on five- year survival, or adequate follow- up data. A summarized odds ratio of 2.7 leads to the conclusion that perinodal spread negatively impacts the five year survival.