Synchronous squamous cell carcinoma and malignant lymphoma in the head and neck region

Synchronous malignancy of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and malignant lymphoma (ML) in the head and neck region is extremely rare. Here, we report the case of a 57-year-old man with a right-sided neck mass; he was referred to our hospital in September 2001. A series of staging work-ups revealed that he was simultaneously affected by oropharyngeal SCC and nasopharyngeal ML. He underwent conventional radiotherapy, and both the primary tumors showed complete remission. The metastatic lymph nodes showed poor response to the radiotherapy, and the patient was surgically salvaged by modified radical neck dissection. Although systemic chemotherapy against ML was scheduled, he refused the treatment and died of disseminated ML. It is essential to determine the lesion that should be given priority treatment in case of double primary malignancies; this can be facilitated by determining the prognosis of each malignancy.