The Role of Endoscopy in Evaluating Head and Neck Cancer Patients: Conclusion of a Multi-institutional Prospective Study

Abstract

At the annual meeting of the American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery in Washington, DC, on September 26, 1988, Nancy Snyderman, MD, University of Arkansas, Little Rock, presented a combined study, for eight institutions, that investigated the diagnostic role of panendoscopic examination. This was a prospective study begun in 1985 that included 569 patients who presented with upper aerodigestive tract malignancies and, as part of their preoperative evaluation, underwent panendoscopic examinations. Synchronous tumors were defined as a second tumor that appeared at the same time as the index tumor, whereas metachronous tumors were those that appeared within 6 months. Synchronous tumors were found in 7.9% of cases. Metachronous tumors were found in 10% of cases. The most common sites for the second primary tumor were other locations in the head and neck and in the lung. Of the head and neck primary tumors, the most common second site was