[Treatment and outcome of cervical lymph nodal metastases of unknown primary sites]
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Published on: August 19, 2021
1Department of Head and Neck Surgery, Cancer Institute (Hospital), Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100021.
Objective:
To ascertain the optimal management of cervical nodal metasta of unknown primary sites.
Methods:
The clinical data of 114 patients of cervical nodal metastases of unknown primary sites were retrospectively analyzed.
Results:
For metatic masses of the upper and/or middle part of the neck, the optimal approach varied depnding on the histologic type. Poorly-differentiated carcinoma was treated with radiotherapy, squamous-cell carcinoma was treated with radiotherapy plus surgery, while papillary adenocarcinoma was treated by combined radical thyroidectomy. Their 5-year survival rate was 45.2%, 53.8% and 62.5%, respectively. For metastatic masses in the supraclavicular region, chemotherapy was the first treatment of choice in all patients. In only 12 of the 114 patients (11.2%) the primary sites were found in the follow-up period.
Conclusion:
For patients with cervical lymph node metastases from unknown primary sites, the management should be given according to the location of lymph node involved and histopathologic type of the tumor.
