The actual statistic is that 27% of all stage one and two oral cancers have an occult met to the cervical nodes of the neck. Occult in this case means that it is too small to be detectable by conventional imaging techniques. This topic has been discussed here before and I suggest you use the search engine and look for "occult" to find some of the old threads. Some of the posts were actually pre IMRT radiation, some after it started being used more, so keep that in mind. But the fact remains you have a one in four chance of drawing a bad hand. Stage three and four patients do not have to consider this, since they usually also have cervical node involvement, or it is assumed since the primary is so large, (having been in place for a longer time to get that way), that cervical mets or infiltration into surrounding tissues is a given, detectable or not. Make the best decision you can with your doctors, chosen from multiple disciplines including radiology, and extensive experience (1000's of patients seen with oral scc). Once you jointly make your call don't look back and worry, and do not spend you time or thoughts trying to second-guess your decision.