Background: Patients with a first head and neck carcinoma have a high risk of successive neoplasms, many of which appear again in the head and neck. Second head and neck tumors have a poorer prognosis than first tumors, but data about the prognosis of third and fourth tumors in the head and neck are lacking.
Methods: We carried out a retrospective study of 4298 patients with a primary head and neck carcinoma. Survival and the characteristics of the first tumor, second tumor, and any successive tumors in the head and neck were analyzed.
Results: Second and successive tumors showed a tendency to appear more frequently in the oral cavity and oropharynx and had a lower stage than that of index tumors. Five-year survival rates after a first, second, third, and fourth tumors in the head and neck were 67.6%, 56.1%, 45.0%, and 32.1%, respectively.
Conclusion: Survival decreased progressively with every new head and neck tumor.
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