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Updated: Jul 15, 2026
Isolation and Characterization of a Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Subpopulation Having Stem Cell Characteristics
Published on: May 11, 2016
[Tumour recurrence in squamous head and neck cancer]
César Antonio Alvarez Marcos1, José Luis Llorente Pendás, Virginia Franco Gutiérrez
1Servicio de Otorrinolaringología, Hospital Valle del Nalón, Riaño-Langreo, Asturias, España. alvarezmarcos@telefonica.net
Introduction:
For most patients with squamous head and neck cancer (HN-SCC), locoregional tumour recurrence (TR) carries an extremely poor prognosis and is therapeutically challenging.
Objective:
To define the clinical aspects of TR and their implication on the survival in patients with HN-SCC.
Patients And Method:
The clinical management and the outcome of 652 patients with HN-SCC were reviewed.
Results:
The overall incidence of TR in this series of HN-SCC was 19.9% (n=130). The most frequent locations of the primary cancers were oropharynx (32%), hypopharynx (24%), and oral cavity (21%). The rates of recurrence were locoregional 50%, local 43 % and stomal recurrence 7%. The appearance of a TR reduces the overall survival of patients with HN-SCC to 15%. Survival is better in glottic (38%) and supraglottic (27%), carcinomas, and worse in oro-hypopharynx tumours (2-4%).
Conclusions:
RT are more frequent in pharyngeal tumours, especially locoregional recurrences. Patients with recurrence in pharynx were definitely associated with poor prognosis and in these cases salvage surgery seems not to improve survival rates.
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