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Updated: Jul 18, 2026
A Model for Perineural Invasion in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Published on: January 5, 2017
[Distant metastases in head and neck cancer]
C A Alvarez Marcos1, J L Llorente Pendás, V Franco Gutiérrez
1Servicio de Otorrinolaringología, Hospital Valle del Nalón, Riañ-Langreo. alvarezmarcos@telefonica.net
Introduction:
The presence of distant metastasis (DM) after the initial treatment of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is not considered a common event and it is associated to a poor outcome.
Purpose:
To investigate the prevalence and risk factors associated with the diagnosis of distant metastasis in SCC.
Methods And Materials:
A retrospective study of 633 patients with HNSCC to describe the clinical characteristics of the DM.
Results:
During the follow-up period after the initial treatment, 6.2% of the patients were diagnosed of having distant metastasis. The site of primary tumor was hypopharynx in 14.4%, unknown origin in 11.8% and oropharynx in 8.5%. The most common sites of DM were the lungs (58%) and the bone (22%). Three year overall survival in patients with DM was 2.5% (versus 49,5% in the control group).
Conclusions:
This study confirms that DM have an adverse impact in survival. There is a need of guidelines for screening of distant metastases in patients with HNSCC in order to get an early diagnosis and a more effective treatment. Because of the poor prognosis of DM, protocols including adjuvant chemotherapy should be investigated.
