[Apparently primary malignant cervical adenopathy]

Despite a thorough examination it is not always possible to detect the primary cancer responsible for malignant cervical adenopathy. In the vast majority of cases the metastases arise from an epidermoid carcinoma of the upper respiratory or digestive tract. A possible diagnostic, but also therapeutic procedure is exploratory cervicotomy with extemporaneous examination. The prognosis is poor, both locally (glandular involvement) and generally (metastatic spread).