Homo sapiens Exome. Homo sapiens

Recurrence and/or metastasis occur in more than half of patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) and pose the greatest threats to long-term survival. The genetic landscape underlying recurrent/metastatic HNSCC is unknown. Here, we present the first whole exome sequencing (WES) cohort study of patient-matched tumor pairs in recurrent or metastatic HNSCC. Synchronous lymph node metastases are genetically more similar to their paired index primary tumors compared to paired primary and recurrent tumors. Genetic alterations identified exclusively in recurrent or metastatic tumors, but not the index primary tumor, may have therapeutic implications.