PRACTICA OTO-RHINO-LARYNGOLOGICA
Vol. 98 No. 10 October 2005
Management of Cervical Metastasis in
Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma
Yo Kishimoto, Kazuhiko Shoji, Satoshi Ikegami,
Atsuhito Takahashi and Tsuyoshi Kojima
(Tenri Hospital)
Hiroyuki Kitamura
(Takai Hospital)
We made observations about the treatments and their effectiveness against 30 cases of nasopharyngeal carcinoma with cervical metastasis but without distant metastasis.
①We divided the 30 cases above mentioned into two groups, one group with neck dissection treatment and another group without it. No meaningful difference in the 5 year survival rate could be seen between the two groups, the rates 68 percent in the former group and 62 percent in the latter group.
②In the 16 cases of the former group, while we pathologically observed that carcinomas still remained in 4 cases, we were able to confirm the effectiveness of radiotherapy against cervical metastasis.
③Indications for neck dissection were thorough observation and examination after full dose irradiation for cervical lymph node metastasis.
④In all the cases in which patients died, the primary lesion was not controlled, so we can confirm control of primary lesion is critical for a good outcome.
Key words : cervical metastasis, nasopharyngeal carcinoma, neck dissection