Two cases are reported in which a denture fragment was lodged in the bronchus for a period of six years. Bronchial asthma which did not worsen immediately after inhalation and other misleading factors made the diagnosis more difficult in the first case, whilst the respiratory symptoms in the second case appeared only 4 years after inhalation. Haemoptysis 2 years later led to a bronchoscopy and the removal of the foreign body.

A common feature of reporting head and neck squamous cancer statistics in recent years has been to consider patients dying with no evident disease (NED) as successfully treated. We present two patients who died with no clinically evident squamous cancer and who could therefore have been reported as cured but for autopsy findings which showed significant distant spread. These findings are supported by several reports of distant metastases in squamous head and neck cancer and it is suggested that rates of post-mortem examinations be included in survival figures in the future.