Abstract
A histopathological examination was performed on serial specimens of the carotid artery that were resected from patients with cervical squamous cell carcinoma. No perivascular or perineural extension of the cancer cells was observed even in the cancer invaded arterial wall. Intraluminal extension, however, was more likely demonstrated in patients in which both a neck dissection and irradiation were performed. It was thus considered that either a surgical approach or irradiation may reduce histological resistance against cancer cell invasion to the carotid artery. The safety margin for a cervical artery resection was 10mm from the macroscopic edge of the invading tumor. Local recurrence appeared in the skin of the neck in one case, however, no distant metastases was observed in any of the patients whose cervical artery was resected.
