My husband was diagnosed in December with stage III SCC with an unknown primary. After a CT, PET scan, tongue biopsy, and tonsillectomy, he still has an unknown primary. The tumor they found is a 3cm tumor on the right side of his neck. He elected to have radiation and chemo over a neck dissection and radiation. He will begin radiation and chemo next week. We were told it would be best to determine the primary source--what is the difference? He is an otherwise healthy 52 year old, social drinker and non-smoker.
Also, they found a 6mm lesion on his right lung in the PET scan, and the ENT said all they can do is have a pulmonologist keep an eye on it. Does anyone have any experience with SCCUP presenting only in a lymph node, then spreading to the lung?
The relatively long time between diagnosis and treatment happened because we had to wait to get in with the cancer center here--he was diagnosed just before the holidays, so getting an appointment there took 3 weeks.