Would you recommend lymph node biopsy in a patient with SCC of the right ventral tongue (~1 cm) post excision with close margins and no noted adenopathy on imaging?

For patients with oral cavity cancers, a neck dissection is generally warranted. Hence, I would not recommend a node biopsy but rather refer the patient back to the surgeon to have a selective neck dissection performed. Since the patient underwent surgery of the primary lesion in the anterior tongue, more information from the surgical pathology (i.e. depth of invasion) is important for decision-making.

Per the NCCN 2024 surgical guidelines for Head and Neck Cancers [1]: The surgical management of...