Key Points:
Head and neck cancers (HNC) accounted for 3% of all cancer diagnoses in the United States (51,540 cases) and 1.5% of cancer-related deaths (10,030 cases) in 2018.1,2 Autopsy of patients with underlying HNC is germane to understanding the complex causes of death associated with these cancers and is important for quality improvement across medicine.
This study reviewed patients with HNCs diagnosed for the first time at autopsy. We theorized both thyroid and non-thyroid HNCs diagnosed at autopsy would be incidental findings characterized by low T stage and nodal burden. Previous studies have extensively characterized the prevalence of thyroid cancer upon autopsy.3-5 Our study emphasizes the prevalence of non-thyroid HNCs first diagnosed upon autopsy utilizing thyroid cancer as a comparative measure. It is important to distinguish between the two disease processes as even at lower stages, non-thyroid cancers, because their malignant nature, may have greater influence on patient mortality than thyroidal cancer. Neither cancer diagnosed at autopsy has been studied using a national cancer database. This study will inform clinicians and public health officials about the frequency and characteristics of undiagnosed HNCs and subsequent missed treatment opportunities. Because of the malignancy of non-thyroid cancers, the medical community must be aware of their prevalence, particularly in cases where patients may be asymptomatic. This understanding is imperative to improve screening and early care measures for patients at risk for disease development or progression based on demographic characteristics and modifiable risk factors.