Search

Metastasis predominantly occurs via the lymphatic system in head and neck tumors. The disturbance of the lymphatic system in the cervical region resulting from neck dissection or radiotherapy may result in unusual patterns of metastasis in patients with recurrent tumors. This is more frequent when the recurrent tumor invades the myocutaneous flap used for the primary reconstruction. We encountered three patients (2 men, 1 woman) with infraclavicular lymph node metastasis. All were previously treated by surgery, postoperative radiation therapy, and reconstruction with the use of the pectoralis major myocutaneous flap.

Primary carcinoma of the subglottic larynx is very rare. This study was designed to evaluate patients who were treated for primary carcinoma of the subglottic larynx.The study included 15 patients (14 men, 1 woman; mean age 62.8 years; range 45 to 95 years) with primary subglottic carcinoma. Correlations of different clinical parameters with three-year survival rate and Kaplan-Meier survival analysis were investigated.On presentation, two patients (14%) had T1, five patients (33%) had T2, three patients (20%) had T3, and five patients (33%) had T4 tumors. The overall three-year survival rate was 73.4% (11/15). The median survival calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method was 45 months. No significant differences were found between the survival rates of patients with and without extralaryngeal extension.Although primary subglottic cancer is locally aggressive with high tendency to extend to the extralaryngeal compartment at the time of diagnosis, high survival rates can be expected when appropriate treatment modalities are selected.