[Incidence of multiple tumors in the upper aerodigestive tract. Routine panendoscopy?]

The incidence of multiple squamous cell carcinomas in the upper aerodigestive tract of 589 patients is presented and discussed. Multiple synchronous tumors had been found in 1.83% of patients in 1980-1984. Since the end of 1984 in most cases routine praetherapeutic panendoscopy was performed. 15.6% of these patients with panendoscopy had multiple synchronous primary tumors. The mouth and oropharynx were found to be high risk primary areas and the larynx a low risk area, concerning synchronous tumors in other localizations. The incidence of second primaries in the bronchi and especially in the oesophagus justifies routine praetherapeutic panendoscopy of which our technique is described.