Squamous cell nose and a synchronous in-situ vocal cord carcinoma: a case report

Reports indicate that the incidence of multiple primary tumours in head and neck cancers is high. However, most of these tumours are either metachronous primary or secondary tumours of the same histopathological type. The development of a synchronous primary squamous cell skin cancer of the nose and an in-situ vocal cord carcinoma is something unusual. We present the case of a patient with a primary neoplasm along the lateral side of the nose up to the bone of the pyramid, including the skin of the inner side of the nose and an infiltration of the inferior nasal concha on the right side, together with a small synchronous primary lesion of the left vocal cord. To the best of our knowledge the case described is the first in the English medical literature and we discuss the complete management of synchronous head and neck malignancies, emphasising the importance of panendoscopy in the prevention of pitfalls in diagnosis and the therapeutic procedure.