Metastatic Squamous Neck Cancer Occult Primary

Metastatic squamous neck cancer with occult primary is a disease in which squamous cell cancer spreads to lymph nodes in the neck, but the cancer’s origin is unknown. When the site of the primary tumor cannot be found, it is known as an occult primary tumor. The diagnosis of an occult primary tumor is made only if no primary tumor is detected after careful search through testing and is not revealed during treatment.

Squamous cells are thin, flat cells found in tissues that form the surface of the skin and the lining of body cavities such as the mouth, hollow organs such as the uterus and blood vessels, and the lining of the respiratory and digestive tracts. Cancer can begin in squamous cells anywhere in the body—including the esophagus, lungs, kidneys, and uterus—and spread through the blood or lymph system to other parts of the body.

When squamous cell cancer spreads to lymph nodes in the neck or around the collarbone, it is called metastatic squamous neck cancer. Since treatment for metastatic cancer is the same as treatment for the primary tumor, doctors will try to find the primary tumor where the cancer first formed. Even in cases when the primary tumor is not found, patients with cancer cells in one or two lymph nodes near the neck have three-year disease-free survival rates ranging from 40% to 50% following treatment with surgery and/or radiation therapy.

Metastatic Squamous Neck Cancer with Occult Primary Treatment (Adult) (PDQ®)

Source: National Cancer Institute