Prevalence of Head and Neck Sarcomas in the Main Health Centers in Yazd from 1994 to 2014

Introduction: Head and neck sarcomas involve a group of rare malignant diseases with a high histological variability involving various anatomical sites that can lead to under-reporting of the true incidence of these neoplasms. This study aimed to epidemiologically investigate the occurrence of sarcomas of the head and neck within the past 20 years in Yazd, Iran (1994– 2014). Materials and methods: In this descriptive, cross-sectional and retrospective study, 16114 patient’s records with malignant tumors were examined via the census method, which were available in the archives of 8 main treatment centers in Yazd, Iran within a 20-year period. Age, sex, occupation, habitat, type of sarcoma, tumor location and grade, metastasis, recurrence, and history of head and neck irradiation were recorded. Data were analyzed in SPSS software version 17. Results: Among 586 cases of sarcomas, 59 cases (10.06%) were identified with head and neck sarcomas. The mean age of the patients was 32.22 ± 8.31 years, of which 26 (44.01%) patients were males and 33 (55.9%) were females. Soft tissue sarcomas were noted in 41 cases (69.5%) rhabdomyosarcoma was the most common (27.1%). Eighteen (30.5%) patients had hard tissue sarcomas osteosarcoma (15.3%) was the most common. Soft tissues of the head and neck were the most (49.20%) involved sites. Most sarcomas were low grade. In 5 patients (8.5%), metastases occurred to the head and neck, and the tumor relapsed in 16 patients (27.1%). Conclusion: The findings of the current study were inagreement with those of other reports referred to in different studies. This suggests that the epidemiology of head and neck sarcomas in Yazd, Iran is similar to other geographical regions.