Squamous cell carcinoma of the skin metastatic to parotid nodes

Preauricular masses may represent metastases to parotid nodes from carcinoma of the skin of the face, scalp, and neck. At the University of Florida from January 1966 to March 1977, a total of 20 patients were treated whose first evidence of metastasis was a preauricular mass ranging in size from 1 to 6 cm. All had been treated from two weeks to five years previously for at least one ipsilateral squamous cell carcinoma of the face or scalp. In no patient has a mucosal primary site of the head and neck subsequently developed. Treatment consisted of surgery or irradiation of both. The results suggest that superficial parotidectomy is usually inadequate for complete removal of these nodes, since the nodes lie lateral to the posterior facial vein and not the facial nerve. Surgery followed by irradiation appears to result in better survival than either modality alone.