Two rare cases of small cell carcinoma of the hypopharynx in a 78-year old man and an 81-year old man are presented. Small cell carcinomas account for only 1.4% (2/148) of all hypopharyngeal cancers in patients treated between 1978 and 1986. The most common site of small cell carcinomas is the lung, but the tumors may also rarely occur in extrapulmonary sites. Small cell carcinomas of the larynx in the head and neck are not as rare, with 66 cases reported in the literature. However, small cell

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... arcinoma of the hypopharynx is extremely rare, with only 4 cases reported in the literature. Our cases are the fifth and sixth reported in the world medical literature. Patients with these tumors should be treated with a combination of systematic chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The literature on this neoplasm is reviewed.