Rare clinical case: peritoneal metastasis of squamous cell carcinoma of epiglottis

Squamous cell carcinoma is a malignant neoplasm that affects many anatomical sites and is the most common cancer capable of metastatic disease. The usual localization of the spread of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck is regional-cervical lymphadenopathy. The lungs are the most common site of distant metastases (77%). The etiology of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck most commonly involves tobacco use and alcohol abuse. The clinical picture may be different, depending on the localization of the process and its extent of damage. Patients with a supraglottic mass may present with dysphonia, odynophagia, dysphagia, and hemoptysis. The article presents a case of an epiglottis tumor in a 50-year-old patient who underwent surgical and chemoradiotherapy. With subsequent progression, control positron emission tomography revealed a mass in the abdominal cavity, which was successfully verified using endosonography with fine needle aspiration biopsy and regarded as a rare localization of metastasis in squamous cell carcinoma of the epiglottis. Modern technologies and a multidisciplinary approach have made it possible to diagnose and morphologically confirm the pathological process in a minimally invasive way.