Prevalence, prognosis, and treatment implications of retropharyngeal nodes in unknown primary head and neck carcinoma

Despite diagnostic efforts to locate a primary tumor, roughly 3 percent of patients presenting with metastatic squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) to the neck will have no identifiable primary site [1]. Patients who initially present with metastatic lymph node(s) usually undergo a diagnostic work-up that includes physical examination, diagnostic imaging, which may include PET/CT, as well as pan-endoscopy and biopsy of suspicious mucosal primary sites and palatine tonsillectomy. This historical approach may identify as many as 44% of primary tumors [2].

Source: Oral Oncology - June 1, 2018 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Gilad Horowitz, Ali Hosni, Eugene Yu, Wei Xu, Lin Lu, Michael Au, Peter R. Dixon, Dale Brown, Douglas B. Chepeha, Ralph W. Gilbert, David P. Goldstein, Patrick J. Gullane, Jonathan C. Irish, Andrew Bayley, John Cho, Meredith Giuliani, Shao Hui Huang, Andr Source Type: research