The causes of treatment failure in head and neck cancer are locoregional recurrence, distant metastasis and second primary cancer. The favorite sites of second primary cancer are head and neck, lung and esophagus. But, the incidence of stomach cancer in Korea is the highest of all, high incidence of stomach cancer is expected in head and neck cancer patients.
We experienced 2 cases of stomach cancer after successful treatment of primary head and neck cancer at Kang Nam St. Mary's hospital.
The first case was a 60-year-old male with nasopharyngeal non-keratinizing carcinoma(stage III, T1N1M0). He received three cycles of induction chemotherapy including cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil followed by radiotherapy which resulted in complete response. Five months after completion of radiotherapy. stomach adenocarcinoma(stage IV, T4N2M1) was diagnosed. He received one cycle of FAM chemotherapy and died 4 months after diagnosis of stomach cancer.
The second case was a 50-year-old male with pyriform sinus squamous cell carcinoma(stage II, T2N0M0). He received curative partial pharyngolaryngectomy followed by radiotherapy which result in free of disease. Four months after completion of radiotherapy. stomach adenocarcinoma(stage IV, T4N2M1) was diagnosed. Bypass gastrojejunostomy was performed.
The screening test for stomach cancer including upper gastrointestinal X-xay series and/or endoscope of the stomach should be performed periodically for the patients with head and neck cancer in Korea. |