title: Sarcomatoid carcinoma of the pyriform sinus with brain and subcutaneous metastases: an unusual metastatic spread pattern.
abstract: A 63-year-old man presented a polypoid tumor in the laryngeal space involving the right pyriform fossa. The patient underwent a total laryngectomy with bilateral functional neck dissection, and the diagnosis of sarcomatoid carcinoma with malignant fibrous histiocytoma-like stroma was established. The tumor showed an uncommon behavior, with distant metastases to the brain and to the subcutaneous tissue of the abdominal wall. The patient died 1 year after the development of the metastases. Despite its polypoid pattern of growth, sarcomatoid carcinoma of the larynx may behave very aggressively. It is important for clinicians to be aware of the possibility of distant subcutaneous and brain metastases in sarcomatoid tumors of the laryngeal space. If such metastases develop, the prognosis is ominous, with an average life expectancy of 3 months.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Anatomía Patológica, Hospital Universitario La Paz, Madrid, Spain. dhardiss@idecnet.com
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hardisson
authors.forename: J I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: De Diego
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Prim
mesh_terms: D000008:Abdominal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000556:secondary*; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000556:secondary*; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000556:secondary* / Q000601:surgery; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D006801:Humans; D007822:Laryngeal Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D007825:Laryngectomy; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D037981:Neck Dissection; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed