UPPER AERODIGESTIVE TRACT NEOPLASM (UATN): AN UPDATE

introduction: according to the review carried out, while the majority of head and neck cancerous lesions are cutaneous and thyroid are associated with low lethality, there are others that are developed in the upper aerodigestive tract and are usually squamous cell carcinomas, which are usually diagnosed in advanced stages and are associated with very poor survival and functional prognosis. in colombia, squamous cell carcinoma is the neoplasm of greatest occurrence in head and neck; it becomes evident as a detectable premalignant lesion and it registers between 100 and 120 new cases by year according to the colombian national cancer institute in 1998. this update is important because of the new findings on the disease natural history and the characteristics of each location in the upper aerodigestive tract. methodology: the relevant biomedical literature was searched in several databases such as medline, proquest, science direct, ovid and cochrane, as well as available information in web sites of national scientific journals and organizations.