Analysis of cases of cervical cystic lymph node metastasis with an unknown primary misdiagnosed as branchial cleft carcinoma
	    		
		   		
		   			
		   		
	    	
    	 
    	10.3760/cma.j.cn112152-20231024-00248
   		
        
        	
        		- VernacularTitle:原发不明颈部囊性淋巴结转移癌误诊为鳃裂癌的临床分析
 
        	
        	
        	
        		- Author:
	        		
		        		
		        		
			        		Qian LIU
			        		
			        		
			        		
			        			1
			        			
			        		
			        		
			        		
			        		
			        		;
		        		
		        		
		        		
			        		Jingwei LUO
			        		
			        		
		        		
		        		
		        		
		        		
		        			
			        		
			        		Author Information
			        		
		        		
		        		
			        		
			        		
			        			1. 国家癌症中心 国家肿瘤临床医学研究中心 中国医学科学院北京协和医学院肿瘤医院放疗科,北京 100021
			        		
		        		
	        		
        		 
        	
        	
        	
        	
        		- Keywords:
        			
	        			
	        				
	        				
			        		
				        		Branchial cleft carcinoma;
			        		
			        		
			        		
				        		Cervical cystic lymph node metastasis;
			        		
			        		
			        		
				        		Misdiagnosis
			        		
			        		
	        			
        			
        		
 
        	
            
            
            	- From:
	            		
	            			Chinese Journal of Oncology
	            		
	            		 2024;46(6):583-589
	            	
            	
 
            
            
            	- CountryChina
 
            
            
            	- Language:Chinese
 
            
            
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		        	Abstract:
			       	
			       		
				        
				        	Objectives:To analyze the location, discovery time and possible causes of cases of cervical cystic lymph node metastasis with an unknown primary misdiagnosed as branchial cleft carcinoma.Methods:A retrospective analysis was performed on clinical and pathological data of 15 patients misdiagnosed as branchiogenic carcinoma at Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College between January 2000 and December 2020.Results:Among the 15 patients, 6 were nasopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma, 4 tonsil squamous cell carcinoma, 2 tongue root squamous cell carcinoma, 2 hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma and 1 thyroid papillary carcinoma. The median time from the diagnosis of branchial cleft carcinoma to the discovery of primary lesions was 3.58 months (0-76 months). The causes of misdiagnosis might be the lack of experience in the diagnosis and treatment of branchial cleft carcinoma, and not enough attention to comprehensive examination and close follow-up.Conclusions:Different from oropharyngeal cancer reported internationally, the proportion of misdiagnosed cases with nasopharyngeal carcinoma as the primary site in the current article is higher. As a country with a high incidence of nasopharyngeal carcinoma, the examination of nasopharynx should not be taken lightly. Most hidden cases can be found in the comprehensive examination in a short time, while a few cases need long-term follow-up. Finding the primary sites should not rely too much on imaging examination, and we cannot ignore the importance of clinical physical examination.