Outcome of patients treated surgically for lymph node metastases from cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

Background: There is a paucity of outcomes data for patients with lymph node metastasis from cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma of head and neck (SCCHN).
Methods: Patients from a tertiary care center with cutaneous SCCHN metastatic to parotid and or cervical lymph nodes were identified. Data were abstracted and analyzed using COX multivariate analysis.
Results: Fifty-one patients (47 men, and 4 women) with a median age of 73 years were identified. Eight patients (16%) had recurrent disease and 11 (22%) were immunosuppressed. Forty patients (71%) received adjuvant radiation therapy. Median overall survival was 23 months (range, 3-148 months). Recurrent disease was associated with higher risk of death (hazard ratio [HR], 2.7; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.1-6.9) and radiation therapy with reduced risk (HR, 0.18; 95% CI, 0.06-0.54).
Conclusion: Lymph node metastases from cutaneous SCCHN is associated with poor survival.
(Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)