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Updated: May 1, 2026
A Model for Perineural Invasion in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Published on: January 5, 2017
Head and neck sarcomas: the UCLA experience
Bobby A Tajudeen1, Jennifer Fuller2, Chi Lai2
1Department of Head and Neck Surgery, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA; UCLA Head and Neck Cancer Program, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA.
Purpose:
To profile the clinical presentation, subtype distribution, and treatment results of sarcomas of the head and neck at a single tertiary academic center over an 11-year period.
Materials And Methods:
A retrospective review was performed by examining the records and reviewing the pathology of 186 patients with head and neck sarcomas treated at UCLA Medical Center from 2000 to 2011.
Results:
The mean age of the study population was 49 ± 22 years. 58% of the patients were male and 42% were female. Median duration of follow-up for the entire group was 18.5 months. The most common presenting symptom was a mass lesion in 59.9% of patients. The nasal cavity/sinus was the most common presenting site seen in 22% of patients. Solitary fibrous tumor/hemangiopericytoma was the most common subtype. 15% of patients had evidence of prior radiation exposure. 26.3% of tumors were greater than 5 cm and 35.5% were high-grade. Margins were positive in 31.2% of patients. Lymph node metastasis was rare at 6.5%. Perineural invasion was identified in 6.5%. Among all subtypes, 5-year recurrence-free survival and overall survival were 50% and 49%, respectively. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that grade and margin status were predictors of recurrence-free survival while grade and age affected overall survival.
Conclusions:
Head and neck sarcomas are a rare entity frequently presenting as a mass lesion. In our series, lesions tended to be high-grade with a significant portion of surgical specimens having positive margins. Grade and margin status were the most important predictors of survival.
