SQUAMOUS-CELL CARCINOMAS OF THE HEAD AND NECK - DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS OF 1293 CASES

Medical reports of 1293 patients with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the head and neck were retrospectively evaluated. The patients were c lassified according to their age, sex, primary tumour localization and tumoral stage. There were 1181 males (91.3 per cent) and 112 females (8.7 per cent), with a male to female ratio of 10.5:1. The peak incide nces for all primary tumour localizations were observed in the fifth d ecade. Most common primary tumour localizations were the larynx (71.1 per cent), the nasopharynx (10.1 per cent) and the oral cavity (8.8 pe r cent). Of all patients in whom staging was complete, 43.1 per cent p resented at early and 56.9 per cent at advanced stages. The proportion of patients presenting with metastatic neck nodes was 34.4 per cent a nd the incidence of metastatic neck nodes increased with increasing T stage. The supraglottic region was the most common primary site among all laryngeal SCC, with a supraglottic to glottic SCC ratio of 1.5:1. Glottic SCC presented at earlier stages compared to supraglottic SCC. The incidence of nodal metastases increased with increasing T stage fo r SCC of the larynx, the oral cavity and the oropharynx.