목적: In the treatment of head and neck cancer, lymph node metastasis is one of the important factors that determine treatment strategy and prognosis. Epithelial to mesenchymal transition is proposed as a mechanism for distant metastasis, and it is known that the dissemination process occurs in the form of single cells or collective migration. This study aims to analyze the dissemination mechanism of cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) in the process of lymph node metastasis of head and neck cancer. 방법:From April 2021 to April 2022, matched samples of primary tumor, metastatic lymph nodes, non-metastatic lymph nodes, and normal tissues were collected from head and neck cancer patients with metastatic lymph nodes who underwent surgery at the ENT Department of Severance Hospital. Collected sample was dissociated to single cell status and cancer associated fibroblasts were cultured. We aim to identify the origin of CAF by collecting genetic information (DNA) and analyzing mutations. 결과: Deep whole exome sequencing (deep WES) was performed on nine cultured fibroblasts and three normal tissues from three patients with oral cavity cancer. Single nucleotide polymorphism, insertion, deletion, and copy number alteration were analyzed. As a result of comparing the mutations observed in each tissue, no mutations were observed that were shared only between the primary tumor and the metastatic lymph nodes. Most mutations were site-specific, and multiple mutations shared across all sites were observed in one patient. 결론:There were no CAFs shared between the primary cancer and metastatic lymph nodes. CAF may play the role during during the lymph node metastasis process, but it is thought that they do not proliferate or collective migration does not occur after metastasis.