Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

Non-hematological tumors of head and neck region in the pediatric age group in a tertiary care cancer center

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Pediatric Surgery International Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

To analyze the clinical profile, management and outcome of non-hematological tumors in head and neck region in children less than 18 years of age.

Patients and methods

Medical records of patients (0–18 years) presenting with non-hematological tumors of head and neck region from 2000 to 2010 were reviewed.

Result

Out of the 78 patients identified, 50 were males with median age of 14 years (3 months to 18 years). Histologically, 58 out of the 78 patients had malignant tumors and 20 were metastatic at presentation. Common site of tumor origin was noted as thyroid (23/78), salivary glands (21/78) and nasopharynx (13/78). Out of 78 patients, 44 patients were treated by surgery, 26 patients received radiation and 13 patients received chemotherapy, while 9 patients received radio-iodine (I-131) treatment. Median follow up of all cases was 22 months (range 1 month to 8 years). The event free survival was 74.1% and overall survival was 89.6%. Subset analysis revealed patients with thyroid and salivary gland malignancies have excellent survival, while those with squamous cell carcinoma and high risk neuroblastoma had poor outcome.

Conclusion

This study reveals the interesting profile of head and neck tumors in children, and important role of surgery for favorable outcome.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Park YW (1995) Evaluation of neck masses in children. Am Fam Physician 51(8):1904–1912

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Dickson PV, Davidoff AM (2006) Malignant neoplasms of the head and neck. Semin Pediatr Surg 15:92–98

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Sato M, Tanaka N, Sato T, Amagasa T (1997) Oral and maxillofacial tumors in children: a review. Br J Oral Maxillofac Surg 35:92–95

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Goespath J, Spix C, Talebloo B, Blettner M, Mann WJ (2007) Incidence of childhood cancer of the head and neck in Germany. Ann Oncol 18:1716–1721

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Danese D, Gardini A, Farsetti A, Sciacchitano S, Andreoli M, Pontecorvi A (1997) Thyroid carcinoma in children and adolescents. Eur J Pediatr 156(3):190–194

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Kumar A, Bal CS (2003) Differentiated thyroid cancer. Indian J Pediatr 70:707–713

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Steliarova-Foucher E, Stiller CA, Pukkala E, Lacour B, Plesko I, Parkin DM (2006) Thyroid cancer incidence and survival among European children and adolescents (1978–1997): report from the Automated Childhood Cancer Information System project. Eur J Cancer 42(13):2150–2169

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Zimmerman D, Hay ID, Gough IR et al (1988) Papillary thyroid carcinoma in children and adults: long term follow-up of 1039 patients conservatively treated at one institution during three decades. Surgery 104:1157–1166

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Goepfert H, Dichtel WJ, Samaan NA (1984) Thyroid cancer in children and teenagers. Arch Otolaryngol 110:72–75

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Flannery TK, Kirkland JL, Copeland KC, Bertuch AA, Karaviti LP, Brandt ML (1996) Papillary thyroid cancer: a pediatric perspective. Pediatrics 98:464–466

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. McHenry C, Smith M, Lawrence AM, Jarosz H, Paloyan E (1988) Nodular thyroid disease in children and adolescents: a high incidence of carcinoma. Am Surg 54:444–447

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Gatta G, Capocaccia R, Stiller C, Kaatsch P, Berrino F, Terenziani M, The European Working Group (2005) Childhood cancer survival trends in Europe: a EUROCARE working group study. J Clin Oncol 23(10):3742–3752

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Alam K, Khan R, Jain A, Maheshwari V, Agrawal S, Chana RS, Harris SH (2009) The value of fine needle aspiration cytology in the evaluation of pediatric head and neck tumors. Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol 73:923–927

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Guzzo M, Ferrai A, Marcon I, Collini P, Gandole L, Pizzi M et al (2006) Salivary gland neoplasms in children: the experience of the Istituto Nazionale Tumori of Milan. Pediatr Blood Cancer 47:806–813

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Ellies M, Schaffranietz F, Arglebe C, Laskawi R (2006) Tumors of the salivary glands in infants and adolescents. J Oral Maxillofac Surg 64:1049–1058

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Ribeiro KCB, Kawalski Lp, Saba LMB, Camargo B (2002) Epithelial salivary glands neoplasms in children and adolescents: a forty-four year experience. Med Pedatr Oncol 39:594–600

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Cunningham MJ, Meyer EN, Bluestone CD (1987) Malignant tumors of the head and neck in children: a twenty year review. Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol 13:279–292

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Sengupta S, Pal R (2009) Clinicopathological correlates of pediatric head and neck cancer. J Cancer Res Ther 5(3):181–185

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Sultan I, Casanova M, Ferrari A, Rihani R, Rodriquez-Galindo C (2010) Differential features of nasopharyngeal carcinoma in children and adult: a SEER study. Pediatr Blood Cancer 55:279–284

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Sharma SD, Upreti RR, Laskar S, Tambe CM, Deshpande DD, Shrivastava SK, Dinshaw KA (2007) Estimation of risk of radiation induced carcinogenesis in adolescents with nasopharyngeal cancer treated using sliding window IMRT. Radiother Oncol 86:177–181

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Albright JT, Topham BA, Reilly JS (2002) Pediatric head and neck malignancies: US incidence and trends over 2 decades. Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 128:655–659

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Turner H, Snitzer J (1974) Carcinoma of the tongue in a child: report of a case and review of the literature. Oral Surg 37:663–667

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Patel DD, Dave RI (1976) Carcinoma of the anterior tongue in adolescence. Cancer 37:917–921

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Usenius T, Karja J, Collan Y (1987) Squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue in children. Cancer 60:236–239

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Meadows AT, Tsunematsu Y (2000) Late effects of treatment for neuroblastoma. In: Brodeur GM, Swada T, Tsuchida Y, Voute PA (eds) Neuroblastoma. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 561–570

    Google Scholar 

  26. Kushner BH, Cheung NK, Kramer K et al (1998) Neuroblastoma and treatment related myelodysplasia/leukemia: the Memorial Sloan- Kettering experience and a literature review. J Clin Oncol 16:3880–3889

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gauri Kapoor.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Das, K., Jain, S., Chichra, A. et al. Non-hematological tumors of head and neck region in the pediatric age group in a tertiary care cancer center. Pediatr Surg Int 27, 919–923 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00383-011-2916-2

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00383-011-2916-2

Keywords

Navigation