Second primary tumors in patients with head and neck cancer: A retrospective study from a single center

Abstract

Objective: Patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck are at risk for developing a second primary cancer. The aim of this study was to determine incidence and localization of second primary tumors. Material and Methods: Three hundred twenty-four patients with head and neck cancer diagnosed between 2000 - 2010 were analyzed for the presence of a second malignancy. The data used in this study were obtained retrospectively from a database. Results: A total of 324 patients were enrolled in this study, there were 248 males and 76 females ranging between the ages of 18 and 84 years, with a median age of 53 years. Ten patients (3.08%) had metachronous, three patients (0.93%) had synchronous cancers. In our study, 7.12% of the older population (>60 years) had second primary tumors, and 2.46% of the younger population (≤ 60 years) had second primary cancers. There were no statistical differences between two groups (p=0.07). Overall survival of patients with metachronous second primary cancers at 1 and 3 years were 87.5% and 62.5% respectively while these rates were 95.2% and 88.3% respectively in the ones without second primary cancers. Conclusion: In our study, 4% of patients had second primary tumors. Screening programs were considered beneficial in high risk patients with head and neck cancers who smoke and use alcohol in order to detect second primary cancers. © 2014 by Türkiye Klinikleri.