The biology of distant metastases in head and neck cancer

The detection and treatment of metastatic cancer continues to be a challeng e for the head and neck oncologist. Unfortunately, head and neck cancer pat ients who develop distant metastases commonly present late in their course and rapidly succumb to their disease, despite advances in imaging technolog ies and increased sophistication of biochemical analyses. The development o f a rational approach to detection and treatment of metastatic head and nec k cancers should begin with an understanding of how these tumors occur and which patients are at greatest risk for developing them. This article prese nts an overview of the biological processes resulting in the speed of a mal ignancy from one site to another, with particular attention to head and nec k carcinomas, The basic histopathologic, immunology and biochemical abnorma lities associated with the development of these secondary tumors are also d iscussed. Copyright (C) 2001 S.Karger AG, Basel.