Surgical treatment for pulmonary metastases of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

PURPOSE: As locoregional control of head and neck cancer has improved, distant metastases have become increasingly common problems.

PATIENTS AND

METHODS

To determine the role of surgical treatment, we reviewed 32 patients with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the head and neck who underwent thoracotomy for pulmonary metastases.

RESULTS

The overall 5-year survival rate was 32%. The 5-year survival rate of the patients with SCC of the oral cavity was significantly poorer than that of the patients with other primary site (15.4% v 45.2%; P = .01). In the patients with single nodule, extent of the tumor was a significant prognostic factor (P = .007). Mediastinal lymph node involvement (P = .004) and pleural invasion (P = .04) also correlated with survival.

CONCLUSION

TNM classification of the primary tumor did not have an impact on survival in this study. Further studies of a large series should be performed to determine the indications and modalities of the surgical treatment for pulmonary metastases of the SCC of head and neck.