BACKGROUND: Comparative analysis of a retrospective study of the free disease survival of 31 patients with cervical metastasis with unknown primary tumor, and 637 patients with head and neck cancer of the mouth, oropharynx and hypopharynx submitted to neck dissection, in the Head and Neck Service of the Heliópolis Hospital Complex, São Paulo, Brazil, between 1977 and 1995. METHOD: Free disease survival curves were determined by the KAPLAN & MEIER method, taking into consideration the N factor of TNM classification (UICC - AJC 1997) for the patients with unknown tumor sites, and the T and N factors for those diagnosed with primary tumor. These curves were compared by the log-rank test. RESULTS: the comparison of free disease survival (FDS) of patients with cancer of the mouth (m), oropharynx (o) and hypopharynx with unknown primary (up) lesion were established through 9 curves, considering values of p, with T and N parameters. CONCLUSIONS: the verifications of differents survival curves did not detect statistical diferences for the Free Disease Survival in 9 planned curves (all values of p more than 0,05), for patients with cervical metastasis with unknown primary tumor, and those with mouth, oropharynx and hypopharynx tumors, submitted to neck dissection.
Free disease survival; Metastasis; Head and neck
