Abstract
A 56-year-old man complained for one year of a right neck node swelling. We examined his head and neck region, but we could not detect any origin of a neck node metastasis. We performed an open biopsy. The biopsy specimens of the neck node suggested branchial cleft cyst because of the almost normal thin stratified squamous epithelium of the cyst wall. So we performed “branchial cleft cyst resection”. Histological examination of this mass showed transition from squamous dysplasia of the cyst wall to invasive well differentiated squamous cell carcinoma. The histological appearance, location of the mass and the absence of a site of origin led us to a diagnosis of branchiogenic carcinoma.
Radiation therapy (45 Gy/18f) and radical neck dissection were performed. He has been followed for 3 years and shows no evidence of recurrence of disease.
