Table 1.
Comparison of the clinical characteristics of patients and DECT characteristics of lymph nodes between metastasis and non-metastasis
| Patients | |||
| Clinical characteristics | Metastasis (n = 33) | Non-metastasis (n = 70) | p values |
| Age median, range (years) | 55.5 (37–70) | 52.3 (31–79) | 0.102 |
| HPV positive | 0 (0%) | 1 (1.4%) | 0.168 |
| Sex | 0.336 | ||
| Male | 30 (90.9%) | 67 (95.7%) | |
| Female | 3 (9.1%) | 3 (4.3%) | |
| T category | < 0.001** | ||
| T1 | 0 (0%) | 19 (21.1%) | |
| T2 | 17 (51.5%) | 40 (57.1%) | |
| T3 | 14 (42.4%) | 11 (15.8%) | |
| T4 | 2 (6.1%) | 0 (0%) | |
| Location of OSCC | 0.536 | ||
| Tongue | 16 (48.5%) | 34 (48.6%) | |
| Buccal mucosa | 10 (30.3%) | 23 (32.9%) | |
| Floor of mouth | 7 (21.2%) | 2 (2.9%) | |
| Gingiva | 0 (%) | 11 (15.6%) | |
| Lymph nodes | |||
| DECT characteristics | Metastasis (n = 158) | Non-metastasis (n = 241) | p values |
| T category | < 0.001** | ||
| T1 | 0 (0%) | 35 (14.5%) | |
| T2 | 52 (32.9%) | 111 (46.1%) | |
| T3 | 93 (58.9%) | 89 (36.9%) | |
| T4 | 13 (8.2%) | 6 (2.5%) | |
| Location of OSCC | 0.752 | ||
| Tongue | 72 (45.6%) | 108 (44.8%) | |
| Buccal mucosa | 24 (15.1%) | 82 (34.0%) | |
| Floor of mouth | 62 (39.3%) | 17 (7.1%) | |
| Gum | 0 (0%) | 34 (14.1%) | |
| Length (mm) | 14.5 ± 6.4 | 10.0 ± 3.0 | < 0.001** |
| Width (mm) | 11.1 ± 5.1 | 6.8 ± 2.1 | < 0.001** |
| Aspect ratio | 1.34 ± 0.24 | 1.52 ± 0.43 | < 0.001** |
| Necrosis | < 0.001** | ||
| Yes | 67 (42.4%) | 13 (5.4%) | |
| No | 91 (57.6%) | 228 (94.6%) | |
| Capsule infiltration | < 0.001** | ||
| Yes | 48 (30.4%) | 3 (1.2%) | |
| No | 110 (69.6%) | 238 (98.8%) | |
| Extranodal extension | < 0.001** | ||
| Yes | 24 (15.2%) | 1 (0.4%) | |
| No | 134 (84.8%) | 240 (99.6%) | |
| Aggregation | < 0.001** | ||
| Yes | 33 (20.9%) | 0 (0%) | |
| No | 125 (79.1%) | 241 (100%) | |
OSSC oral squamous cell carcinoma, DECT dual-energy computed tomography, HPV human papillomavirus. **p < 0.01