1998 Volume 91 Issue 3 Pages 299-304
A case of adenosquamous carcinoma of the hypopharynx is reported. A 50-year-old male complained of right upper neck lymph node swelling. The posterior wall of the hypopharynx and the right aryepiglottic fold were swollen. The initial histological diagnosis based on a biopsy specimen was squamous cell carcinoma. After radiotherapy with 60 Gy and neoadjuvant chemotherapy (CDDP, fluorouracil), total pharyngolaryngectomy with bilateral neck dissection was performed. The postoperative histological diagnosis was adenosquamous carcinoma. Retrospective study revealed that a small amount of intracytoplasmic mucin was present in the initial biopsy specimen. Thereafter, recurrence in the skull base was detected and the patient died 19 months later. On histopathological examination of squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck, it is important to examine whether the tumor also contains an adenocarcinoma component or not.
