Impact of perineural invasion as independent prognostic factor for local and regional failure in oral squamous cell carcinoma

Objective Perineural invasion (PNI) is frequent in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and could play an important role in treatment decisions. Study Design This retrospective study used multivariate analysis to evaluate the impact of PNI on locoregional recurrence, neck metastases, and survival in 236 consecutive patients with oral cancer. Results There were significant differences in the local (P = .007) and regional (P = .041) failure rates in the PNI-positive group compared with the PNI-negative group. Univariate analysis demonstrated that PNI-positive patients had significantly worse locoregional control (P = .011), disease-specific survival (P = .023), and overall survival (P = .046) compared with PNI-negative patients. Conclusion PNI was an independent predictor of local and regional failure in a well-defined, homogeneous population with OSCC