Abstract
The treatment of squamous cell carcinoma of the mesopharynx still remains controversial. Recommendations for the initial therapeutic approach to this tumor include surgery, radiation therapy or various combination therapies.
Sixty-two patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the mesopharynx treated at our hospital from 1985 through 1996 were reviewed and the treatment results of 52 recent cases were analysed. The primary lesion was located in the lateral wall in 30, the anterior wall in 14, the superior wall in 4 and the posterior wall in 4 cases. The overall five-year crude survival rate was 45%. The rate of advanced stage (stage III·IV) was 80.8%. The 5-year survival rate did not differ between patients with irradiation therapy and those with surgical treatment. In stage III and IV, the 5 year survival rate of T1·T2 cases was 90.9% and that of T3·T4 cases was 31.6%. Multiple primary cancers were discovered in 11 out of 52 patients (21.2%) with previously untreated squamous cell carcinoma of the mesopharynx.
Analysis of these series supports the recommendation that early detection of other existing cancers by physical examination, CT, MRI, ultrasonography and endoscopy of the upper aerodigestive tract and stomach is very important and selection of the optimal treatment modalities according to the location and expanse of cancers in T3 and T4 cases should be investigated.
