Treatment of Cutaneous Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Metastatic to the Parotid Gland

Objectives:1) Recognize challenges in managing metastatic squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) to the parotid gland. 2) Describe our 5-year experience of treating metastatic SCC of the parotid gland.Methods:Retrospective case series of 22 consecutive patients undergoing parotidectomies for treatment of metastatic SCC to the parotid gland between August 2006 and December 2011 at Weill Cornell Medical College. Interventions included parotidectomy and radiation therapy (RT). Outcome measures included complications, survival, and locoregional recurrence.Results:Seventy-seven percent of patients were male, with a mean age of 77 years (range 46 - 93 years). Eighteen patients underwent superficial parotidectomy, four received total parotidectomy, and 16 underwent neck dissection. Fifteen patients received post-operative RT, and 1 patient had neoadjuvant radiation 4 months prior to surgery. Median dose of radiation delivered was 6300 cGy at 200 cGy per fraction. Overall 2-year survival was 77.4%, and 2-year disease-fre...