Abstract:Whether lymph node metastasis occurs in laryngeal cancer is a crucial factor in determining the treatment plan and predicting the prognosis of patients. Accurate preoperative assessment of the lymph node status is of vital importance for clinical decision-making. Currently, the clinic mainly relies on imaging examinations to evaluate the lymph node metastasis in patients with laryngeal cancer. However, these methods have limitations and it is difficult to strike a balance between avoiding missed diagnosis of occult lymph node metastasis and unnecessary overtreatment. Regarding the prediction of preoperative lymph node metastasis in laryngeal cancer, this article focuses on elaborating from multiple perspectives, such as clinical peripheral blood, imaging, biomarkers, sentinel lymph node biopsy, and summarizes new technical methods including radiomics and machine learning.