[Regional neck lymph nodes and primary tumors. 1. Neck lymph node metastases]

The metastasis are situated in the primary regional lymphnodes. Preoperative palpation of the neck gives unreliable results. The extent of the primary tumor has no correlation to the occurence of metastasis. When the tumor is localized in the supraglottic, transglottic or in the tongue base region the frequency of metastasis in lymph nodes is approximately equal; more than half of them have metastasis. When the tumor is localised in sinus piriformis or in the marginal region a still higher frequency of metastasis is found.