Neck Node Squamous Cell Metastasis from Unknown Primary and Mutagen Sensitivity: A Case Series

Abstract

Most of the neck node metastases from cancer of unknown primary (CUP) are squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs). The majority of which are human papillomavirus (HPV)-related, frequently show cystic morphology referring to Waldeyer’s ring origin. Here, we report four cases of neck node SCCs metastases from CUP. In our institute, 432 patients with head and neck (HN) SCC underwent pretreatment mutagen sensitivity (MS) assay between 1996 and 2006. Among them, 4 patients ≤50 years of age had metastatic cervical nodes from CUP. The primary treatment was cervical node dissection ± radiotherapy. All patients had elevated (>1.0 chromatid break/cell) MS. One male patient died of progressive neck metastasis within 3 years and the 3 female patients are still alive more than 15 years after initial treatment of HPV+ (two) or cystic (one) SCC. Two female patients developed second and third distant site metachronous primary cancers. HPV+ or cystic HNSCC from CUP with elevated MS indicates good outcome. Distant site metachronous cancers of different histologic origins cannot be explained by field cancerization. The clinical significance of elevated MS in neck node SCC metastasis from CUP requires further investigation.

Predicting Response to Exclusive Combined Radio-Chemotherapy in Naso-Oropharyngeal Cancer: The Role of Texture Analysis

“…Being able to non-invasively evaluate characteristics specifically associated with one or the other tumor subtype through imaging is of paramount importance. For example, HPV+ tumors are generally associated with exophytic growth, well-defined border enhancement, and cystic-appearing lymph node metastases, unlike HPV-tumors, in which the primary lesion often has poorly defined margins [28][29][30]. However, a purely morphological evaluation of those differences is not sufficient due to the overlap of some common characteristics between the HPV+ and HPV-lesions [31].…”