Pediatric Head and Neck Malignancies.

Head and neck malignancies are rare in pediatric patients, and represent 12% of all pediatric malignancies. The incidence for these head and neck tumors is 1.49 cases per 1,000,000 person-years. Among the most common pediatric head and neck malignancies are lymphomas (27%), neural tumors including primitive neurectodermal tumors (23%), thyroid malignancies (21%), soft tissue sarcomas including rhabdomyosarcoma (12%), nasopharyngeal carcinoma, skeletal and odontogenic malignancies including osteosarcoma, Ewing sarcoma, and ameloblastic carcinoma. This article presents an overview of pediatric head and neck malignancies with emphasis on diagnosis and management.