Abstract
Twenty-three (8.01%) of 287 cases of locoregionally-controlled malignant tumors of head and neck developed distant metastases. The occurrence of distant metastasis of squamous cell carcinomas is closely related to the occurrence of cervical lymph node metastasis.
A retrospective analysis was performed on the 23 cases of distant metastasis. Of these 23 cases there were many cases of floor of mouth, squamous cell carcinomas, advanced stages and multimodal therapies. Distant metastasis developed earlier in squamous cell carcinomas than salivary gland malignant tumors and sarcomas. The mean survival periods after diagnosis was shorter in squamous cell carcinomas than the others. The common sites of distant metastasis were lung, bone and liver. No relation was found between the metastatic sites and pathological classifications. The 5-year cummulative survival rates were as follows : 13.0% for all cases, 6.7% for squamous cell carcinomas, 33.3% for salivary gland malignant tumors, 40.0% for sarcomas.
As distant metastasis is fatal, it is useful to predict the high risk groups of distant metastasis and to add the adjuvant therapy to locoregional therapy for the high risk cases before developing distant metastasis.
