title: Branchial cleft cyst carcinoma: myth or reality?
abstract: Skepticism has surrounded the existence of branchial cleft carcinoma since the entity was first described in 1882. However, a landmark work of 1950 established four criteria for the diagnosis of branchial cleft carcinoma, the most important criterion being histologic proof of carcinoma arising from a normal cyst epithelium. Of the 43 cases found in an extensive review of the literature, only 7 cases have satisfied all four of the criteria. To this we add 2 patients who had recurrent infections of a cervical cyst as children and later developed carcinoma within these structures. Additionally, we propose a minor modification to the 1950 criteria and a paradigm for diagnosis and management of these lesions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, State University of New York Health Science Center at Brooklyn, USA.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: A N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Balwally
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sundaram
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Har-El
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Krgin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001935:Branchioma / Q000473:pathology*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000473:pathology*; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009378:Neoplasms, Multiple Primary / Q000473:pathology*