ABSTRACT
Primary malignant epithelial tumors of the head and neck may be of mucosal, cutaneous or glandular, including thyroid, salivary and lacrimal origin. The commonest form of oropharyngeal malignancy is the squamous carcinoma of the floor of mouth, tongue, and retromolar triangle. Mesenchymal malignancies and secondary carcinoma are uncommon, but the metastases of skin cancer (predominantly squamous carcinoma and malignant melanoma) constitute the commonest malignant tumor of the parotid gland. Malignant lymphoma may present in the head and neck, and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma is more common than Hodgkin’s disease, while Burkitt’s lymphoma tends to be localized to specific geographic areas such as Africa and Papua New Guinea. Accurate observation of the anatomical position of the cancer, its size, the involvement of the cervical lymph nodes and presence of distant metastasis allows comparison of treatment modalities between various centers, and one such classification is provided (Table 13.1).
