[Synovial sarcoma of the head and neck--a retrospective study of 39 cases]

Synovial sarcoma (SS) of the head and neck is rare in comparison with those took place in the extremities. This study was planned to investigate the relationship between pathological diagnosis, tumor location and clinical outcome of SS of the head and neck.

Thirty-nine cases of SS in head and neck hospitalized in West China Hospital from 1966 to 2011 was retrospectively studied by reviewing the medical record data, the pathological slices of the operative specimen and followed-up from 1 to 192 months with the mean time of 43.2 months postoperatively. The parameters of clinical outcome were focused on the time to first recurrence after primary surgery and follow-up time. The reviewed results were statistically processed.

The age of the patients ranged from 8 to 66 years old with the median age of 35, among them 27 are males. Pathologically, 18 cases are biphasic, 17 cases are monophasic and 3 cases are low-differentiated SS. 4 cases were proved by cytogenetic methods of either fluorescence in situ hybridization(FISH) or RT-PCR. 23 cases experienced repeated recurrence with the most up to 4 times operations after sole surgical approach. Only one lymphatic metastasis was suspected in all. 16 patients got adjuvant radiotherapy or chemotherapy. 4 patients died but only one death was associated directly with SS recurrence. There was no significant relationship between pathological subtype and recurrence (Fisher's Exact Test P-value > 0.05), no significant relationship between tumor location and recurrence (Fisher's Exact Test P-value > 0.05).

SS of head and neck is a special entity that has potential of easy recurrence but good prognosis. Surgery should still be the primary treatment approach. Cytogenetic methods are recommended to as certain the diagnosis in order to choose reasonable treatment protocols.