ENT: #3 Neck lumps and cancer
🩺 Neck lumps and head and neck cancer — most neck lumps in children and young adults are enlarged lymph nodes from infection. In adults over 40, a persistent neck lump is cancer until proven otherwise, often a lymph node spread from a mouth, throat or larynx cancer. Head and neck cancer is linked to smoking and alcohol, and increasingly to HPV in younger non-smokers. Early referral makes a big difference to survival and to how much treatment is needed.
Your four questions for every patient: How old are they, and how long has the lump been there? Where exactly is it — midline or lateral, and does it move with swallowing or tongue protrusion? Are there red flags (hard, fixed, growing, hoarseness, dysphagia, ear pain, weight loss, smoking)? Does this need a suspected cancer referral?
Assessing a Neck Lump
- History:
- Duration — days (infection) versus weeks to months (cancer, congenital).
- Size change; pain; recent infection (sore throat, dental).
- Red flag symptoms — hoarseness, dysphagia, painful swallowing, referred ear pain, one-sided nasal blockage or bleeding, mouth ulcer, weight loss, night sweats, fevers.
- Risk factors — smoking, alcohol, HPV exposure, betel or paan chewing, previous radiotherapy, immunosuppression, TB contact, HIV risk.
- Examination — from behind, chin slightly down:
- Site — midline or lateral; anterior or posterior triangle; level (I–VI).
- Size, consistency (soft, rubbery, hard), tenderness, fixity, skin changes.
- Moves with swallowing — thyroid (or thyroglossal cyst).
- Moves with tongue protrusion — thyroglossal cyst.
- Pulsatile — carotid body tumour or aneurysm.
- Examine the mouth, throat, ears, scalp and skin (primary sites) and other node areas, liver and spleen.
- Age guide:
- Children — mostly reactive lymph nodes and congenital lesions; cancer is rare (but lymphoma, leukaemia, neuroblastoma).
- Young adults — reactive nodes, glandular fever, congenital cysts, lymphoma, thyroid; HPV-related cancer is rising.
- Over 40 — a persistent lump is malignant in a large proportion (metastatic squamous cell carcinoma, lymphoma, thyroid).
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Enlarged Lymph Nodes
- Reactive (the commonest) — after throat, dental, scalp or skin infections; tender, soft, under 2 cm; settle within 2–6 weeks.
- Infections:
- Glandular fever (EBV) — posterior nodes, sore throat; CMV; toxoplasmosis.
- TB ("scrofula") — matted, painless nodes, may discharge; people from high-TB countries, HIV.
- Atypical mycobacteria — young children; violet skin over a painless node.
- Cat-scratch disease (Bartonella).
- HIV — generalised lymphadenopathy.
- Bacterial lymphadenitis (abscess).
- Malignant:
- Metastatic squamous cell carcinoma — hard, painless, often fixed; from the mouth, throat, larynx or skin.
- Lymphoma — rubbery, painless, often several nodes; B symptoms (fever, night sweats, weight loss); alcohol-induced pain (Hodgkin).
- Thyroid cancer (papillary spreads to nodes, often in young people).
- Leukaemia (CLL in older people).
- Metastases from below the neck — Virchow's node (left supraclavicular) from stomach or other abdominal cancers (Troisier's sign).
- Other — sarcoidosis, Kikuchi disease, Kawasaki disease (children), drugs (phenytoin).
- Red flags:
- Persisting over 3–6 weeks, or growing.
- Over 2 cm; hard; fixed; supraclavicular.
- B symptoms; hepatosplenomegaly; generalised lymphadenopathy.
- Smoker or drinker; head and neck symptoms.
- NICE NG12: Adults aged 45 or over with an unexplained persistent neck lump — suspected cancer pathway referral. Children and young people with unexplained lymphadenopathy or splenomegaly — very urgent FBC (leukaemia) and specialist assessment.
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Midline Neck Lumps
- Thyroid swelling — moves up with swallowing:
- Diffuse goitre, multinodular goitre, single nodule, cyst.
- Tests — TFTs, ultrasound (U1–U5 grading), fine needle aspiration (FNA) if suspicious.
- See the Thyroid Disease chapter.
- Thyroglossal duct cyst:
- A remnant of the thyroid's path of descent from the tongue base.
- Children and young adults; smooth, round, midline (usually just below the hyoid).
- Moves up when the tongue is stuck out (and on swallowing).
- Can become infected.
- Treatment — Sistrunk operation (removes the cyst, the track, and the middle of the hyoid bone); check that normal thyroid tissue is present first.
- Dermoid cyst — midline, doesn't move with tongue protrusion; children.
- Lymph nodes — submental (under the chin) from lip, chin or front of mouth.
- Laryngeal or tracheal tumours; thymus (children).
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Lateral Neck Lumps
- Lymph nodes — the commonest (see above).
- Branchial cyst:
- A congenital cyst at the front edge of the sternocleidomastoid, junction of its upper and middle thirds.
- Young adults (20s–30s); smooth, soft, may swell with infections.
- Aspirate contains cholesterol crystals.
- Surgical removal.
- Cystic lymph node in an adult — a "branchial cyst" appearing after age 35–40 is a metastatic HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancer (or papillary thyroid cancer) until proven otherwise.
- Carotid body tumour (paraganglioma):
- At the carotid bifurcation (angle of the jaw); may be pulsatile, with a bruit.
- Moves side to side, but not up and down (Fontaine's sign).
- Splays the internal and external carotids on imaging ("lyre sign").
- Don't biopsy (bleeding) — imaging and genetic testing (SDH mutations); surgery or watch.
- Salivary glands — parotid (in front of the ear, at the jaw angle) and submandibular (under the jaw).
- Cystic hygroma (lymphatic malformation) — babies and young children; soft, transilluminates; posterior triangle; sclerotherapy or surgery.
- Laryngocele — air-filled sac that swells on blowing (trumpet players); can hide laryngeal cancer.
- Cervical rib — hard lump above the clavicle; may cause thoracic outlet symptoms.
- Sternocleidomastoid "tumour" — firm swelling in a baby's neck muscle; torticollis; physiotherapy.
- Lipoma; sebaceous cyst; neurofibroma; schwannoma.
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Investigating a Neck Lump
- ENT examination — including flexible nasendoscopy to look at the nasopharynx, tongue base, larynx and hypopharynx.
- Ultrasound — first-line imaging; shows whether the lump is solid or cystic, its nature, and guides biopsy.
- Ultrasound-guided FNA or core biopsy — diagnosis with HPV (p16) testing, or lymphoma typing (core biopsy is better for lymphoma).
- Avoid open excision biopsy of a suspected squamous cell carcinoma node — it spreads tumour and makes later treatment harder. Excision biopsy is reserved for suspected lymphoma when a core isn't enough.
- CT or MRI neck — staging; CT chest (lung metastases and second primary).
- PET-CT — finds the primary site in "unknown primary" cancer; staging; checking response after treatment.
- Examination under anaesthetic — with biopsies (tonsillectomy, tongue base) if the primary site isn't found.
- Bloods — FBC and film, ESR, LFTs, TFTs, EBV and HIV serology as appropriate.
- Most hospitals have one-stop neck lump clinics (ENT consultation, ultrasound and FNA in one visit).
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Salivary Stones
- Sialolithiasis — about 80% in the submandibular gland (its saliva is thicker and its duct runs uphill).
- Features:
- Pain and swelling under the jaw with eating (or even the thought of food), settling over an hour or two.
- A stone may be felt in the floor of the mouth.
- Infection — persistent swelling, redness, pus from the duct (sialadenitis).
- Tests: Ultrasound; X-ray (most submandibular stones are radio-opaque); sialography or CT.
- Treatment:
- Hydration, massage, warm compresses, sialogogues (sour sweets, lemon) to flush small stones.
- Antibiotics if infected (e.g. co-amoxiclav or flucloxacillin).
- Removal — through the mouth, sialendoscopy (tiny camera), lithotripsy, or gland removal for recurrent problems.
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Parotitis and Mumps
- Acute bacterial parotitis:
- Older, frail, dehydrated patients; after surgery; poor oral hygiene; anticholinergic drugs.
- Painful, red, swollen parotid, fever, pus from the parotid duct (opposite the upper second molar) on massage.
- Usually Staphylococcus aureus.
- Treatment — rehydration, oral hygiene, sialogogues, antibiotics (flucloxacillin, or per local policy); drain an abscess.
- Mumps (paramyxovirus):
- Bilateral (sometimes one-sided) painful parotid swelling with fever, malaise; ear lobes pushed out.
- Outbreaks in young adults (students) who missed MMR doses.
- Complications — orchitis (painful testes, after puberty; rarely infertility), oophoritis, pancreatitis, viral meningitis, encephalitis, sensorineural deafness.
- Diagnosis — saliva swab (PCR) or oral fluid test.
- Notifiable; supportive care; exclude from school or work for 5 days after swelling starts.
- Prevention — 2 doses of MMR.
- Recurrent parotitis of childhood — repeated swelling; usually settles by puberty.
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Other Salivary Swellings
- Sjögren's syndrome — dry eyes and mouth with salivary gland swelling; anti-Ro and anti-La; raised risk of lymphoma (MALT) — new firm gland swelling needs investigation.
- Sarcoidosis — bilateral parotid swelling; Heerfordt syndrome (with uveitis, fever and facial palsy).
- HIV — bilateral cystic parotid swelling (lymphoepithelial cysts).
- IgG4-related disease — firm, bilateral submandibular gland swelling (Küttner tumour) or lacrimal and salivary swelling (Mikulicz disease); raised IgG4; responds to steroids.
- Sialosis — painless, bilateral, soft parotid enlargement: alcohol, diabetes, bulimia, malnutrition, cirrhosis, drugs.
- Ranula — a bluish mucus cyst in the floor of the mouth (sublingual gland).
- Mucocele — small cyst on the inner lower lip after biting.
- Drooling (sialorrhoea) — in Parkinson's disease, MND, cerebral palsy — hyoscine patches, glycopyrronium, botulinum toxin.
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Salivary Gland Tumours
- Rule of 80s (roughly): about 80% occur in the parotid, and about 80% of parotid tumours are benign. The smaller the gland, the more likely a tumour is malignant (sublingual and minor salivary gland tumours are mostly malignant).
- Benign:
- Pleomorphic adenoma — the commonest; middle-aged women; slow-growing, painless, firm lump. Can recur if not removed fully and can rarely turn malignant after many years.
- Warthin tumour — older male smokers; soft, sometimes bilateral or multiple; lower pole of the parotid.
- Malignant:
- Mucoepidermoid carcinoma — the commonest malignant type.
- Adenoid cystic carcinoma — spreads along nerves (perineural) — pain and facial palsy; late recurrence.
- Acinic cell carcinoma, salivary duct carcinoma, lymphoma, metastases (skin cancers of the scalp and face spread to parotid nodes).
- Signs of malignancy:
- Facial nerve weakness.
- Pain.
- Rapid growth.
- Fixed to skin or deep tissues; skin ulceration.
- Neck nodes.
- Investigation: Ultrasound with FNA or core biopsy; MRI.
- Treatment:
- Superficial or total parotidectomy, preserving the facial nerve if possible; radiotherapy for malignant tumours.
- Complications of parotidectomy — facial nerve weakness (usually temporary), numb earlobe (great auricular nerve), Frey syndrome (sweating and flushing of the cheek when eating — "gustatory sweating"), salivary fistula.
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Head and Neck Cancer — Overview
- How common: About 12,000 new cases a year in the UK; incidence is rising, mainly because of HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer.
- Type: About 90% are squamous cell carcinomas.
- Sites:
- Oral cavity (lips, tongue, floor of mouth, gums, cheek).
- Oropharynx (tonsils, tongue base, soft palate).
- Larynx.
- Hypopharynx.
- Nasopharynx.
- Nose and sinuses; salivary glands.
- Risk factors:
- Smoking — the biggest.
- Alcohol — and smoking with alcohol multiplies the risk.
- HPV (especially HPV-16) — oropharyngeal cancer; oral sex and number of partners.
- Betel quid, paan and gutka chewing (South Asian communities) — mouth cancer.
- EBV and diet (salted fish) — nasopharyngeal cancer in Southern Chinese, South-East Asian and North African populations.
- Sun exposure — lip cancer.
- Wood dust (sinonasal); previous radiotherapy; immunosuppression; Fanconi anaemia; poor diet; deprivation.
- Prevention:
- Stop smoking; reduce alcohol.
- HPV vaccination — offered to all children aged 12–13 (girls and, since 2019, boys); a single dose since 2023; also to men who have sex with men up to age 45.
- Regular dental checks (dentists spot many mouth cancers).
- Field cancerisation — the whole lining of the mouth and throat is exposed to carcinogens, so second primary cancers (head and neck, lung, oesophagus) are common.
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Symptoms and Referral
Symptoms that should raise suspicion (especially if over 3 weeks, in smokers and drinkers):
- Persistent hoarseness.
- Neck lump.
- Mouth ulcer that doesn't heal; red or white patch; lump in the mouth.
- Difficulty or pain swallowing.
- One-sided sore throat; referred ear pain with a normal ear.
- One-sided nasal blockage, bloody discharge or nosebleeds; one-sided glue ear in an adult.
- Stridor (late); haemoptysis.
- Loose teeth or poorly fitting dentures; numbness of the tongue or lip.
- Weight loss.
NICE NG12 — suspected cancer pathway referrals:
- Laryngeal cancer — consider for people aged 45 or over with persistent unexplained hoarseness or an unexplained neck lump.
- Oral cancer — consider for unexplained mouth ulceration for more than 3 weeks or a persistent unexplained neck lump; GPs refer red or red-and-white patches or mouth lumps (or arrange an urgent dental review).
- Thyroid cancer — unexplained thyroid lump.
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Mouth Cancer
- Sites: Side of the tongue (the commonest), floor of the mouth, gums, cheek lining, hard palate, lip.
- Features:
- Non-healing ulcer with raised, hard edges; often painless at first.
- Red or white patch (erythroplakia, leukoplakia).
- Lump; bleeding; loose teeth; ill-fitting dentures.
- Pain, ear pain, numbness (later).
- Neck nodes.
- Precancerous conditions: Leukoplakia, erythroplakia (highest risk), erosive lichen planus, oral submucous fibrosis (betel nut chewers — stiff mouth, trismus).
- Lip cancer — usually the lower lip; sun exposure; good prognosis.
- Treatment: Surgery (often with neck dissection and reconstruction with a free tissue flap); radiotherapy or chemoradiotherapy after surgery for high-risk features.
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Oropharyngeal Cancer and HPV
- Sites: Tonsils, tongue base, soft palate.
- Two types:
- HPV-positive (now most UK cases):
- Younger (40s–50s), often non-smokers or light drinkers.
- Often presents with a neck lump (cystic node) with a small or hidden primary.
- Much better prognosis and response to treatment.
- Shown by p16 staining on biopsy.
- HPV-negative — smokers and drinkers; older; worse outcomes.
- Features:
- Neck lump.
- Persistent one-sided sore throat; ear pain.
- Painful or difficult swallowing.
- One-sided enlarged tonsil.
- "Hot potato" voice (tongue base); weight loss.
- Treatment: Chemoradiotherapy (radiotherapy with cisplatin) or transoral surgery (robotic or laser) with neck dissection for smaller tumours; trials of reducing treatment intensity in HPV-positive disease.
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Laryngeal Cancer
- Who: Older men; smoking and alcohol.
- Sites and features:
- Glottic (vocal cords) — the commonest. Hoarseness early, and the cords have little lymphatic drainage, so it is often found early with a good prognosis.
- Supraglottic (above the cords) — swallowing problems, throat pain, ear pain, neck nodes; hoarseness later; spreads to nodes early.
- Subglottic (below the cords) — rare; stridor; late presentation.
- Late features: Stridor, haemoptysis, weight loss, neck nodes.
- Diagnosis: Nasendoscopy; biopsy under general anaesthetic (microlaryngoscopy); CT neck and chest.
- Treatment:
- Early — radiotherapy or transoral laser surgery (both aim to preserve the voice).
- Advanced — chemoradiotherapy, or total laryngectomy (permanent neck stoma — see the ENT Emergencies chapter).
- Voice after laryngectomy — voice prosthesis (tracheo-oesophageal valve), electrolarynx, oesophageal speech.
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Hypopharyngeal Cancer
- Sites: Pyriform fossa (the commonest), post-cricoid region, posterior pharyngeal wall.
- Features: Painful or difficult swallowing, referred ear pain, voice change, a neck lump (often the first sign), weight loss. Usually presents late, so prognosis is poor.
- Post-cricoid cancer — linked to Plummer–Vinson (Paterson–Brown-Kelly) syndrome: iron deficiency anaemia, dysphagia from an oesophageal web, glossitis — mostly in women.
- Treatment: Chemoradiotherapy or surgery (pharyngolaryngectomy with reconstruction).
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Nasopharyngeal Cancer
- Who: Much more common in people of Southern Chinese, South-East Asian and North African origin; EBV is involved; salted fish diet.
- Features — often subtle:
- Neck lump (upper neck, posterior triangle) — the commonest presentation.
- One-sided glue ear and hearing loss in an adult (blocked Eustachian tube).
- Nasal blockage; blood-stained nasal discharge or nosebleeds.
- Cranial nerve palsies — especially VI (double vision) and V (facial numbness) from skull base spread.
- Headache.
- Diagnosis: Nasendoscopy and biopsy; MRI; EBV DNA in blood (also used to monitor).
- Treatment: Radiotherapy (very radiosensitive) with chemotherapy; surgery is rarely used.
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Treatment
- Multidisciplinary team (MDT) — ENT and maxillofacial surgeons, oncologists, radiologists, pathologists, specialist nurses, speech and language therapists, dietitians, restorative dentists, psychologists.
- Before treatment:
- Dental assessment — remove unhealthy teeth before radiotherapy (to prevent osteoradionecrosis).
- Nutrition — feeding tube (gastrostomy) may be placed if swallowing is expected to be badly affected.
- Stop smoking (improves treatment response and survival); alcohol support.
- Treatment options:
- Surgery — removal of the tumour (often transoral for smaller tumours), neck dissection, and reconstruction (free flaps).
- Radiotherapy — intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) to spare salivary glands; daily over about 6 weeks.
- Chemoradiotherapy — radiotherapy with cisplatin (or cetuximab if cisplatin isn't suitable).
- Recurrent or metastatic disease — immunotherapy (pembrolizumab, alone or with chemotherapy, for tumours expressing PD-L1; nivolumab after platinum chemotherapy), chemotherapy, cetuximab, palliative care.
- Early-stage disease — often single treatment (surgery or radiotherapy) with good cure rates.
- Advanced disease — combined treatment; 5-year survival varies widely by site and HPV status.
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Life After Treatment
- Dry mouth (xerostomia) — from radiotherapy to the salivary glands; often permanent. Saliva substitutes, frequent sips, sugar-free gum, pilocarpine tablets in some.
- Dental decay — fluoride toothpaste (high strength) and trays; regular dental review.
- Osteoradionecrosis — exposed, dead jaw bone after radiotherapy; often triggered by tooth extraction. Avoid extractions after radiotherapy where possible; specialist dental care.
- Swallowing problems — speech and language therapy (swallowing exercises before and after treatment); some need long-term tube feeding; aspiration pneumonia risk.
- Mucositis (during treatment) — painful mouth ulcers; analgesia (including opioids), mouthwashes, nutrition support.
- Trismus — stiff jaw; jaw-stretching exercises.
- Hypothyroidism — common after neck radiotherapy; check TFTs yearly.
- Carotid artery stenosis — raised stroke risk years after neck radiotherapy.
- Lymphoedema of the face and neck; neck fibrosis.
- Shoulder problems — damage to the accessory nerve (XI) during neck dissection: shoulder drop, pain, difficulty lifting the arm. Physiotherapy.
- Changes in voice, appearance, eating and taste — big psychological and social impact; depression; support groups.
- Follow-up — typically for 5 years: recurrence and second primaries (head and neck, lung, oesophagus); keep off tobacco.
⚠️ Safety Pearl: Before a tooth extraction in someone who has had head and neck radiotherapy, involve a specialist dentist — extractions in irradiated bone can cause osteoradionecrosis of the jaw.
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Drug Reference Table
| Drug | Key points |
| Cisplatin | Given with radiotherapy (chemoradiotherapy); kidney damage, hearing loss, nausea, neuropathy — hydration and audiology. |
| Cetuximab | Anti-EGFR antibody with radiotherapy if cisplatin unsuitable, or in recurrent disease; acne-like rash, infusion reactions, low magnesium. |
| Pembrolizumab | Immunotherapy for recurrent or metastatic disease (PD-L1 positive); immune side effects — thyroid, colitis, pneumonitis, hepatitis. |
| Nivolumab | Immunotherapy after platinum chemotherapy. |
| Pilocarpine tablets | Dry mouth after radiotherapy (if some gland function remains); sweating. |
| High-fluoride toothpaste (e.g. 5,000 ppm) | Prevents decay after head and neck radiotherapy. |
| Levothyroxine | Hypothyroidism after neck radiotherapy — check TFTs yearly. |
| Flucloxacillin / co-amoxiclav | Acute bacterial parotitis and infected salivary stones (per local policy). |
| HPV vaccine | Single dose at age 12–13 (girls and boys); MSM up to 45. |
| MMR vaccine | Two doses prevent mumps; catch-up for young adults. |
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Spot the Diagnosis
| Clue | Diagnosis |
| Midline lump that rises when the tongue is stuck out | Thyroglossal duct cyst |
| Midline lump that rises on swallowing only | Thyroid nodule or goitre |
| Soft lump at the front edge of sternocleidomastoid in a 22-year-old | Branchial cyst |
| Cystic neck node in a 48-year-old non-smoker | HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancer |
| Pulsatile lump at the jaw angle that moves side to side, not up and down | Carotid body tumour |
| Soft, transilluminating neck swelling in a baby | Cystic hygroma |
| Hard left supraclavicular node with weight loss and dyspepsia | Virchow's node (gastric cancer) |
| Rubbery nodes, night sweats, pain after alcohol | Hodgkin lymphoma |
| Matted painless nodes in a man from a high-TB country | TB lymphadenitis |
| Swelling under the jaw when eating | Submandibular stone |
| Dehydrated older patient after surgery with a hot swollen parotid and pus from the duct | Acute bacterial parotitis |
| Student with bilateral parotid swelling and a painful testis | Mumps with orchitis |
| Slow-growing painless parotid lump in a 45-year-old woman | Pleomorphic adenoma |
| Bilateral soft parotid lumps in an older male smoker | Warthin tumour |
| Parotid lump with facial weakness | Malignant parotid tumour |
| Sweating on the cheek when eating after parotid surgery | Frey syndrome |
| Hoarseness in a 68-year-old smoker for 2 months | Glottic laryngeal cancer |
| Iron deficiency, dysphagia and glossitis in an older woman | Plummer–Vinson syndrome (post-cricoid cancer risk) |
| Adult of Southern Chinese origin with one-sided glue ear and a neck lump | Nasopharyngeal carcinoma |
| Exposed jaw bone after a tooth extraction, past neck radiotherapy | Osteoradionecrosis |
| Shoulder drop and pain after neck dissection | Accessory nerve injury |
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Exam-style Scenarios
1. A 52-year-old non-smoker has had a painless lump in the right upper neck for 6 weeks. It is 3 cm and partly cystic on ultrasound. Examination of the mouth looks normal.
Answer: Suspected metastatic HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancer.
- Suspected cancer pathway referral; nasendoscopy.
- Ultrasound-guided FNA or core biopsy with p16/HPV testing; avoid open excision.
- CT or MRI neck, CT chest, PET-CT if primary not found; examination under anaesthetic with tonsil and tongue base biopsies.
2. A 64-year-old smoker has had a hoarse voice for 8 weeks and left ear pain. The ear looks normal.
Answer: Suspected laryngeal (or hypopharyngeal) cancer with referred ear pain.
- Suspected cancer pathway referral to ENT for laryngoscopy.
- Urgent chest X-ray.
- Smoking cessation.
3. A 46-year-old woman has a slowly growing painless lump in front of her right ear for 2 years. Facial nerve function is normal.
Answer: Probable pleomorphic adenoma of the parotid.
- Ultrasound with FNA or core biopsy; MRI.
- Superficial parotidectomy (risk of facial nerve weakness, Frey syndrome).
- Explain the small risk of malignant change if left.
4. A 7-year-old has a smooth midline lump just below the hyoid that moves up when he sticks out his tongue.
Answer: Thyroglossal duct cyst.
- Ultrasound (confirm normal thyroid tissue elsewhere); TFTs.
- Sistrunk operation (cyst, track and middle of hyoid).
5. A man treated with chemoradiotherapy for tonsil cancer 3 years ago now has tiredness and weight gain. He also needs a lower molar removed.
Answer: Likely post-radiotherapy hypothyroidism; high risk of osteoradionecrosis.
- Check TFTs; start levothyroxine if hypothyroid; then yearly TFTs.
- Refer to a specialist (restorative or oral surgery) dentist for the extraction.
- Continue surveillance for recurrence and second primaries.
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Key Points
- A persistent neck lump in an adult over 40–45 is cancer until proven otherwise — suspected cancer referral.
- Examine the mouth, throat, ears, scalp and skin in every neck lump; ENT will do nasendoscopy.
- Ultrasound with FNA or core biopsy is first line; avoid open biopsy of a suspected squamous cell carcinoma node.
- Thyroglossal cyst moves with tongue protrusion; thyroid lumps move with swallowing.
- A "branchial cyst" in an adult over 35–40 may be a cystic HPV-positive cancer node.
- Carotid body tumours move side to side and shouldn't be biopsied.
- Submandibular stones cause swelling with meals; acute parotitis affects dehydrated frail patients.
- Most parotid tumours are benign (pleomorphic adenoma); facial weakness, pain, rapid growth or fixity suggest cancer.
- Head and neck cancer: smoking, alcohol and HPV; HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancer has a better prognosis.
- Persistent hoarseness, mouth ulcer over 3 weeks, one-sided sore throat or ear pain, and dysphagia are red flags.
- Glottic laryngeal cancer presents early with hoarseness and has a good prognosis.
- Nasopharyngeal cancer: Southern Chinese origin, one-sided glue ear, neck lump, cranial nerve palsies.
- After head and neck radiotherapy: dry mouth, dental decay, osteoradionecrosis, swallowing problems, hypothyroidism (yearly TFTs), carotid disease.
- HPV vaccination (single dose, boys and girls at 12–13) helps prevent oropharyngeal cancer.
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Guidelines and Further Reading
- NICE NG36: Cancer of the upper aerodigestive tract — assessment and management in people aged 16 and over
- NICE NG12: Suspected cancer — recognition and referral (head and neck, thyroid, lymphoma)
- ENT UK and the British Association of Head and Neck Oncologists (BAHNO): UK multidisciplinary guidelines for head and neck cancer
- UKHSA: HPV vaccination programme; mumps guidance
- NICE technology appraisals for pembrolizumab, nivolumab and cetuximab in head and neck cancer
- BNF — for current doses
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