Parotidectomy and neck dissection in locally advanced and relapsed cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck region

Abstract Objective: To investigate the prognostic factors to developing parotid and neck metastasis in locally advanced and relapsed Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma (CSCC) of the head and neck region. Methods: Single-center retrospective cohort study enrolling consecutive patients with advanced CSCC from 2009 to 2019. Seventy-four cases were identified. Study variables demographic data, clinical skin tumor stage, neck stage, parotid stage (P stage), surgical treatment features, and parotid, regional, and distant metastases. Survival measures: Overall Survival (OS) and Disease-Specific Survival (DSS). Results: The study group included 72.9% men (median age, 67 years); 67.5% showed T2/T3 tumors, 90.5% comorbidities, 20.2% immunosuppressed, with median follow-up: 35.8 months. The most frequent skin primary were auricular and eyelid regions, 75% underwent primary resection with flap reconstruction. Parotid metastasis was present in 50%, 32.4% showing parotid extracapsular spread, multivariate analysis found OR = 37.6 of positive parotid metastasis evolving into positive neck metastasis, p = 0.001. Occult neck metastasis, neck metastasis, and neck extracapsular spread were observed in 13.5%, 51.3%, and 37.8%, respectively. Kaplan-Meier survival: Clinical T4 versus T1, p = 0.028, P1 stage: 30% and 5% survival at 5 and 10 years, P3 stage: 0%, p = 0.016; OS and DSS showed negative survival for the parotid metastasis group, p = 0.0283. Conclusion: Our outcomes support a surgically aggressive approach for locally advanced and relapsed CSCC, with partial parotidectomy for P0, total parotidectomy for P1–3, selective I–III neck dissection for all patients and adjuvant radiochemotherapy to appropriately treat these patients with advanced CSCC of the head and neck region. Level of evidence: II b – Retrospective Cohort Study – Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine (OCEBM).