[Autopsy findings in 255 cases of head and neck cancer]

Two hundred and fifty-five autopsies of patients with head and neck cancers were performed at Gunma Cancer Center between 1972 and 1986. This figure accounts for 27.8% of the total number of autopsies at the Center which was 917 cases during the period. The autopsies discussed are as follows: 1) Fifty-five cases (21.6%) were oral carcinomas, 43 cases (16.9%) maxillary carcinomas, 39 cases (15.3%) laryngeal carcinomas, 32 cases (12.5%) hypopharyngeal carcinomas and finally 22 cases (8.6%) of malignant lymphomas. 2) The incidence of visceral metastases in 200 cases of squamous cell carcinoma numbered 83, including 70 cases (84.3%) of lung metastases, the most frequently observed. 3) The causes of death in head and neck cancer were primarily of two types: Twenty five cases were due to major hemorrhage as a result of carotid rupture owing to tumor invasion and its intensive irradiation. The remaining 14 deaths resulted from interstitial pneumonitis occurring during bleomycin systemic chemotherapy. The brevity of survival from the onset of symptoms would seem to indicate that, by the time head and neck cancer manifest themselves clinically, they are already at a astage of development beyond the scope of treatment.