Incidence of cervical node involvement in metastatic cutaneous malignancy involving the parotid gland

Background. The parotid lymph nodes represent an important group of nodes a t risk for metastatic involvement from cutaneous malignancies of the head a nd neck. When treating patients with metastatic disease in the parotid glan d it has been our custom to also remove the lymph nodes of the neck on the basis that these nodes represent other nodal groups at risk for metastatic Involvement. The aim of this study Is to determine the incidence of cervica l node involvement among patients with clinical metastatic SCC or melanoma of the parotid to determine whether treatment of the clinically negative ne ck is warranted. Methods. The study group consists of 123 prospectively accessioned patients with clinical metastatic cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) (n = 73) or melanoma (n = 50) involving the parotid gland and a minimum of 2 years o f follow up, irrespective of the clinical status of the neck. Results. Among 73 patients with metastatic SCC In the parotid, 19 (26%) had clinical neck involvement, and 16 of these were pathologically positive (8 4%). A total of 37 patients had elective neck dissections, and 13 were path ologically positive, which is an overall rate of 52% neck involvement among patients having neck dissection. Among 50 patients with metastatic melanom a in the parotid, 19 (38%) patients were initially seen with clinical neck disease, and all were pathologically positive. Among 31 patients with clini cally negative necks, 26 had neck dissections and seven had positive nodes (27%). Overall, 58% of patients with melanoma who had a neck dissection had positive nodes. Conclusion. Patients with metastatic cutaneous SCC and melanoma involving t he parotid gland had a high incidence of clinical (261% and 38%, respective ly) and occult neck disease (35% and 27%). Treatment of the clinically nega tive neck in the presence of clinical metastatic parotid cancer should be c onsidered to reduce the likelihood of failure in cervical nodes, to define the extent of disease, and to assist with patient selection for adjuvant th erapy. (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.