Malignant multiple neoplasms in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

The incidence of multiple malignant neoplasms in the upper aerodigestive tract is high and ranges from 7% to 20%. We make a retrospective study to evaluate the incidence of multiple malignant neoplasms in head and neck squamous cell carcinomas, their main characteristics and survival. We studied 103 multiple malignant neoplasms from an oncological database of 1330 patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinomas. We use the SPSS v15 for analysis of the results. The incidence of multiple malignant neoplasms in our series is 7.73 %. Tumours of the hypopharynx are the primary tumours most often associated with multiple malignant neoplasms (21.34 %), followed by tumours of the oropharynx (15.38 %). Lung tumours are the multiple malignant neoplasms most often associated (29.03 %). The 5-year global survival is 33 % from diagnosis of the second primary tumour, 78.02 % of which are metachronous with an average of 40 months between the diagnosis of the primary tumour and the presentation of the second tumour. Multiple malignant neoplasms are very frequent in the head and neck area which shows the importance of thorough regular check-ups of these patients as the presence of multiple malignant neoplasms considerably worsens the prognosis.