The presenting symptoms of head and neck cancer.

The late presentation of head and neck malignancies is often attributable to failure by the patient and the doctors to appreciate the significance of early symptoms. The presenting features of 522 cases are summarised. They emphasize that the following clinical features are significant, especially in a patient who smokes or drinks: local pain, pain referred to the ear, hoarseness, dysphagia, dyspnoea and stridor, persistent sore throat, nasal obstruction, bleeding, problems fitting dentures and a neck lump. An adequate history and ability to examine the head and neck region are prerequisites to early diagnosis. A knowledge of the presenting features of head and neck malignancies could be stressed more adequately by public health authorities.