Synovial sarcoma of the head and neck: Rare case of cervical metastasis

Background. Synovial sarcoma is a rarely encountered soft tissue sarcoma. Surgery with a wide surgical margin is the treatment of choice. However, there is no consensus on the treatment of head and neck synovial sarcoma in patients with cervical metastasis. Methods. A 20‐year‐old man was seen with a palpable mass in the right neck. He had been diagnosed with synovial sarcoma of the right tonsil and treated by surgery 1 and a half years before; therefore, the mass detected was thought to be a cervical metastasis of synovial sarcoma. We performed a modified radical neck dissection with no postoperative treatment. The pathological diagnosis was confirmed by detecting the SS‐specific fusion gene SYT‐SSX1. Results. The patient remains free of recurrence or metastasis 2 years and 10 months after the surgery. Conclusions. We encountered a case of head and neck synovial sarcoma with cervical metastasis that was successfully treated. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck, 2009