Second primary head and neck squamous cell cancers with aggressive behavior in patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia

Patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) are at considerable risk of developing second primary neoplasms. However, mucosal squamous cell cancers (SCCs) of the head and neck have not been reported. We review the data of 7 patients with mucosal SCC of the head and neck that presented as metachronous second primary tumours in patients with CML. All 7 patients were men (median age 48 years, range 31–67) (site:oral cavity n = 6, hypopharynx n = 1). The median interval between diagnosis of CML and head neck cancer was 6 years (range 2–15). Treatment was curative in 4 and palliative in 3. At median follow up of 14 months (range 2–44), 3 patients had died of head and neck cancer, 1 of CML, and 3 were alive and free of disease. Mucosal cancers of the head and neck can occur in long-term survivors of CML. They are aggressive and tend to recur.