Soft-tissue sarcomas in the head and neck: 25 years of experience

Ecancermedicalscience. 2017 Jun 2:11:740. doi: 10.3332/ecancer.2017.740. eCollection 2017.

Abstract

Sarcomas are infrequent and heterogeneous tumours. They represent 1-2% of all malignant neoplasms in adults and between 4% and 10% of head and neck cancers.

Methods: The research was retrospective, descriptive, and cross-sectional.

Results: A study population of 62 patients with a mean age of 44 years was obtained; the most frequent location was the soft tissues of the neck (25.3%) and the mean tumour size was 7.1 cm; the most frequent diagnosis was undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma (25.5%) and the majority were stage III (41.4%). The lowest survival rates were associated with T2a and T2b tumours (p = 0.014), the presence of lymph node metastasis (p = 0.001), advanced stages (p = 0.003), and invasion of bone, blood vessels and/or nerves (p = 0.008).

Conclusions: Late diagnosis is the main factor associated with decreased survival in patients with head and neck sarcomas.

Keywords: head; head and neck neoplasms; neck; soft-tissue sarcoma.

Publication types

  • Case Reports