Case report: oropharyngeal cancer in a 4-year-old child

Abstract

Oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma is very uncommon among young children. This is a case report of a 4-year-old boy who was referred from another country with a history of a left-sided neck mass resected 5 months prior to his arrival. Three pathologists gave 3 different pathological diagnoses from the same specimen. A computed tomography scan of the neck indicated a mass located at the base of the tongue. A lesion biopsy confirmed a diagnosis of poorly differentiated carcinoma with p16 positivity and focal human papillomavirus positivity. The decision of the multidisciplinary board was to use radiation treatment as single-modality therapy. The patient completed the treatment and almost 5 years have passed uneventfully. This very rare occurrence of squamous cell carcinoma appears to have been resoled without any major consequences.