Objective: To investigate the clinicopathological characteristics,
treatment and
prognosis of
head and
neck carcinosarcoma .
Methods: The clinical data of 14
patients with
head and
neck carcinosarcoma treated in the First Affiliated
Hospital of Zhengzhou
University from January 2010 to May 2020 were retrospectively analyzed, including 11
males and 3
females , with age range from 30 to 72 years old. Clinicopathological characteristics,
treatments and follow-up results of
patients were evaluated. Kaplan-Meier
method was used to estimate the
cumulative survival rate .
Results: Histopathological examination showed the co-existence of malignant epithelial and mesenchymal components in all cases. Immunohistochemical
staining of 13 cases showed
cytokeratin and epithelial
membrane antigens were positively expressed in the epithelial areas, whereas
vimentin was positive in the malignant mesenchymal
tissue area. Among 14 cases, 5 cases were treated with
surgery , 3 cases with
surgery and
radiotherapy , and 6 cases with
surgery ,
radiotherapy and
chemotherapy . The follow-up
time was 2-81 months, with a median follow-up
time of 22.5 months. Except for one
patient who was
lost to follow-up in 21 months
after treatment , among the remaining 13
patients , 4
patients had
recurrence , 8
patients died, and 5
patients had a
tumor -free
survival . The
Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that the 1, 3, and 5-year
cumulative survival rates of 14
patients with
head and
neck carcinosarcoma were 64.3%, 57.1%, and 42.9%, respectively.
Conclusions: Carcinosarcoma of the
head and
neck is rare in clinic, histopathological and immunohistochemical examinations are important basis for
diagnosis , and
surgery is a preferred
treatment .
Carcinosarcoma of the
head and
neck has a poor
prognosis , and
patients should be followed up for a long
time .