[Distant metastases in carcinomas of the upper airways and digestive tract (author's transl)]

144 patients with a carcinoma of the upper airways and digestive tract were examined at necropsy in the Institut Bordet, between January 1, 1960 and December 31, 1973. The study shows that 43% of these patients had distant metastases and that among these 2/3 were in local recurrence. Only 1/4 of the metastases had been recognized before death: most of them appearing in the first year following the diagnosis of the primary tumor. Survival of patients with metastases is short, most of them dying within 3 months after metastatic discovery. There seems to be no evident relationship between the initial degree of extension of the tumor and the risk of later metastatic dissemination. In the search for the most frequent metastases, located in the lungs, liver and skeleton, one should use pulmonary laminography and liver tests combined to scanning and laparoscopy.