Synovial Sarcoma of the Head and Neck: a Report of 2 Cases

Abstract

Synovial sarcoma is a rare malignant tumor which arises from a mesenchymal precursor stem cell that is unrelated to mature synovial tissue. Synovial sarcoma mostly affects extremities usually lower limbs between the ages of 15 and 40 years and the proportion of male-to-female patients is 3:2. It is very rare in the head and neck region especially in laryngopharynx. Till date, only six cases of synovial sarcoma involving laryngopharynx have been reported in the literature. Painless mass, hoarseness, upper respiratory distress, and dysphagia characterize the original complaints in laryngopharyngeal synovial sarcoma. Because head and neck synovial sarcoma in clinical practice is so uncommon, early diagnosis is difficult and the treatment protocol is unclear. The authors report two rare cases of synovial sarcoma of head and neck. First case was synovial sarcoma of larynx was treated by complete excision via the laryngofissure approach followed by radiotherapy. There has been no recurrence after 2 years of the complete excision and serial punch biopsies have come out to be negative. The second case is synovial sarcoma of the parotid treated by radiotherapy.