Incidence and patterns of lymph node metastases in head and neck rhabdomyosarcoma: One‐institution study

• Published in: Head & neck 2024-12, Vol.46 (12), p.3001-3012
• Main Authors: Wang, Tian, Wang, Jie, Li, Qiang, Li, Yi, Song, Xinmao
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Child; Child, Preschool; distribution; Female; Head and neck; Head and Neck Neoplasms - diagnostic imaging; Head and Neck Neoplasms - pathology; head and neck rhabdomyosarcoma; Humans; Incidence; incidence rate; Infant; lymph node metastasis; Lymph nodes; Lymphatic Metastasis; Lymphatic system; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Metastases; Metastasis; Middle Aged; Multivariate analysis; Positron Emission Tomography Computed Tomography; Prognosis; Retrospective Studies; Rhabdomyosarcoma; Rhabdomyosarcoma - diagnostic imaging; Rhabdomyosarcoma - pathology; Tumors; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1043-3074; 1097-0347; 1097-0347
• DOI: 10.1002/hed.27870

Introduction Head and neck rhabdomyosarcoma (HNRMS) is an aggressive malignant soft tissue tumor that easily develops lymph node metastasis (LNM) and distant metastasis. No literature investigates the pattern of LNM in HNRMS. Methods Ninety‐five consecutive patients with HNRMS newly diagnosed at one institution between November 2011 and July 2023 were retrospectively reviewed. All the patients underwent head and neck contrast‐enhanced MRI and/or CT, PET‐CT if necessary. The associations between LNMs and clinical characteristics and histopathological parameters were discovered. Results 44.2% of patients had evidence of LNM at diagnosis, and the most common LNM occurred in the ipsilateral retropharyngeal space. The primary tumor metastasizes to the retropharyngeal space, and then next to level II is the most common LN drainage basin. In multivariate analysis, only distant metastasis determines the prognosis, other than LN status. Conclusions LNM has a high incidence in HNRMS and rarely causes contralateral metastasis for localized lesions or skip metastasis.