Cervical metastasis from occult neoplasm

Abstract

In about 8% of cases presenting with metastatic disease in cervical lymph nodes, there is initial failure to find the primary lesion. Correct management of such a case consists in searching for a primary lesion in the head and neck and, if unsuccessful, elsewhere. Whatever the stage at which the metastatic disease is recognized, and whatever the treatment employed, the prognosis for most of these patients is poor. Long survival is rare. A case is here reported of metastatic carcinoma in cervical nodes in a patient who is alive and well 13 years after treatment, the site of the primary tumour remaining unknown. Similar cases of long survival after treatment for cervical metastases from an unknown primary tumour have been reported in the literature, but they are few in number. Long survival is definitely uncommon, and the 13-year survival in this case is a rare occurrence.