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Updated: Aug 3, 2026
A Model for Perineural Invasion in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Published on: January 5, 2017
[Distant metastasis of renal cell carcinomas to the head-neck area]
P R Issing1, R Heermann, A Ernst
1Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Klinik für HNO-Heilkunde.
Background:
Metastases of hypernephroma to the head and neck, especially to the larynx, are rare occurrences.
Patients:
We report on two cases with solitary spread in the head and neck. A 73-year-old woman who underwent nephrectomy because of a hypernephroma six years ago had a manifestation in the right false vocal cord, which was resected by laser surgery. The specimen of the strumectomy in the other patient revealed a metastasis of an asymptomatic hypernephroma to the thyroid gland and finally led to correct diagnosis of the primary tumor.
Results:
The female patient refused any further treatment and died of cachexia with tumor dissemination four months later. The other patient is still living with a local recurrence after palliative irradiation and administration of interleukin-2 and alpha-interferon.
Conclusions:
In absence of other tumor manifestations, choosing an adequate therapy can be difficult because of the long survival rates in some patients even after hematogenous spread and the unpredictable behavior of this malignancy.
