Ten-year retrospective study of head and neck carcinoma in situ: incidence, treatment, and clinical outcome

Objectives. To examine the management and clinical outcome for patients with primary head and neck carcinoma in situ (CIS) and to estimate the incidence in the referral population. Study design. A retrospective study from 2000-2009 of patients with head and neck CIS referred for treatment at Rigshospitalet. The referral area was East Denmark and Greenland with a population of 2.4 million. Results. Fifty-five patients with primary CIS were identified: 21 oral cavity, 7 pharynx, 25 larynx, 2 nasal cavity/paranasal sinuses. The median annual incidence was 0.24/100,000. Eleven patients (20%) had T-site recurrence. The 5-year disease-specific survival rate and 5-year recurrence-free survival rate were 98% and 74% respectively. Conclusions. The annual incidence of primary head and neck CIS was low and in accordance with previous findings reported in the literature. We recommend that CIS lesions should be treated on T-site and surveilled as T1/T2 head and neck carcinomas.