To assess the association between depth of invasion (DOI) and contralateral nodal disease (CND) in patients with well-lateralized oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma.
Approach:
Design and population: Retrospective cohort study at a single tertiary academic center of surgically treated patients with lateral oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma diagnosed from 1998 through 2021.
Outcome and measurements: The primary outcome was contralateral nodal disease at presentation or contralateral-neck recurrence. Two anatomic pathologists independently reassessed depth-of-invasion measurements; patients with differing measurements were excluded.
Interpretation:
The provided context describes the study rationale and methods but does not report results, so no findings about the association or an optimal DOI threshold can be summarized.
Limitations:
The study was retrospective and conducted at a single center.
