Frailty and the Survival Outcomes of Patients With Laryngeal Squamous Cell Cancer.

Background: Frailty increases the risk of mortality in the head and neck cancer population. This study examines the association between frailty and survival outcomes in patients with laryngeal squamous cell cancer (LSCC).

Method: Retrospective data collection from patients in the West of Scotland diagnosed with LSCC between 2014 and 2020.

Head and neck cancer incidence is rising but the sociodemographic profile is unchanging: a population epidemiological study (2001-2020).

Background: Increasing incidence of head and neck cancers (HNCs), driven by rising rates of oropharynx cancer (OPC), has been recorded around the world. This study examined trends in HNC and subsites (oral cavity, oropharynx, and larynx cancers) in Scotland focusing on assessing whether the sociodemographic profile has changed over the past 20 years.

Methods: Scottish Cancer Registry data (2001-2020) including European Age Standardised Rates of HNC and subsites were analysed in multivariate Poisson regression by age, sex, area-based socioeconomic status, and year of diagnosis (with interaction tests).

Hydrogel-chitosan and polylactic acid-polycaprolactone bioengineered scaffolds for reconstruction of mandibular defects: a preclinical study with assessment of translationally relevant aspects.

Reconstruction of mandibular bone defects is a surgical challenge, and microvascular reconstruction is the current gold standard. The field of tissue bioengineering has been providing an increasing number of alternative strategies for bone reconstruction. In this preclinical study, the performance of two bioengineered scaffolds, a hydrogel made of polyethylene glycol-chitosan (HyCh) and a hybrid core-shell combination of poly (L-lactic acid)/poly ( -caprolactone) and HyCh (PLA-PCL-HyCh), seeded with different concentrations of human mesenchymal stromal cells (hMSCs), has been explored in non-critical size mandibular defects in a rabbit model.

Carbon footprint of tonsillectomy.

Background And Purpose: Healthcare is responsible for 5.4% of greenhouse gas emissions in the UK. Emissions in surgery is a relatively unexplored area; in particular, this hasn't yet been looked at as a whole in ENT in the UK.

Early provision of clinical information with an 'opt in' approach improves patient experience in tonsillectomy referrals.

Patients referred by their general practitioner (GP) with a definite diagnosis, for example, recurrent sore throat for consideration of tonsillectomy in adults, may wait for months without receiving any further clinical information from the hospital until their outpatient consultation. Prompt provision of condition-specific information after referral has received little attention despite considerable potential to enhance patients' understanding, thereby relieving uncertainty and anxiety, and facilitating shared decision-making.This study aimed to report the experience of patients with recurrent tonsillitis who had been sent a booklet outlining the benefits and risks of tonsillectomy immediately after GP referral.

Understanding the Role of Biofilms in Acute Recurrent Tonsillitis through 3D Bioprinting of a Novel Gelatin-PEGDA Hydrogel.

Acute recurrent tonsillitis is a chronic, biofilm-related infection that is a significant burden to patients and healthcare systems. It is often treated with repeated courses of antibiotics, which contributes to antimicrobial resistance. Studying biofilms is key to understanding this disease.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on stage and incidence of head and neck cancer: A rapid review and meta-analysis.

Objectives: This rapid review aims to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on incidence of head and neck cancer (HNC) and stage distribution at diagnosis.

Design: Rapid review and meta-analysis.

Participants: Comparative data for new HNC patients between a pre-pandemic cohort (before March 2020) and a pandemic cohort (after March 2020 during the lockdown period).

Nanoparticle-mediated Photodynamic Therapy as a Method to Ablate Oral Cavity Squamous Cell Carcinoma in Preclinical Models.

Unlabelled: Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a tissue ablation technique able to selectively target tumor cells by activating the cytotoxicity of photosensitizer dyes with light. PDT is nonsurgical and tissue sparing, two advantages for treatments in anatomically complex disease sites such as the oral cavity. We have previously developed PORPHYSOME (PS) nanoparticles assembled from chlorin photosensitizer-containing building blocks (∼94,000 photosensitizers per particle) and capable of potent PDT.

Multimodal optical mesoscopy reveals the quantity and spatial distribution of Gram-positive biofilms in ex vivo tonsils.

Biofilms are known to be present in tonsils, but little is known about their spatial location and size distribution throughout the tonsil. Studies of the location and distribution of biofilms in tonsil specimens have thus far been limited to either high-magnification methods such as electron microscopy, which enables high-resolution imaging but only from a tiny tissue volume, or lower magnification techniques such as light microscopy, which allow imaging of larger specimens but with poor spatial resolution. To overcome these limitations, we report the use of multimodal optical mesoscopy to visualise and quantify the number and spatial distribution of Gram-positive biofilms in fresh, excised paediatric tonsils.

Digital health in head and neck cancer: a systematic review.

Objective: Digital health tools are increasingly being recognised as effective interventions in monitoring chronic health conditions. This systematic review addressed how digital health is currently utilised in patients with head and neck cancer as an adjunct to care.

Method: Studies of the development or evaluation of an eHealth, telemedicine or telemonitoring tool were eligible.

The COVID-19 pandemic has not changed stage at presentation nor treatment patterns of head and neck cancer: A retrospective cohort study.

Objectives: To evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown measures on HNC, by comparing the stage at presentation and treatment of HNC before and after the most severe COVID-19 restrictions.

Design: A retrospective cohort study.

Setting: A regional cancer network serving a patient population of 2.

Does recreational drug use influence survival and morbidity associated with laryngeal cancer.

Background: The use of opioids is considered a risk factor for laryngeal cancer. A retrospective study was performed to explore the relationship between recreational drug exposure and laryngeal cancer.

Methods: Patients diagnosed between the 1st of January 2013 and the 31st of December 2017 using ICD-10 CD-32 coding were identified from the Head and Neck Multidisciplinary Team database.

Twenty-year observational study of paediatric tonsillitis and tonsillectomy.

Introduction: Tonsillectomy is now only indicated in the UK when specific criteria are met, as outlined by the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) and The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). As a result, fewer numbers of tonsillectomy are being performed. Tonsillectomy is the primary treatment for recurrent tonsillitis; therefore, we hypothesise that acute admissions to hospital with tonsillitis and infective complications will have risen since criteria were introduced.

Palliation of head and neck cancer: a review of the unique difficulties.

Each year, there are 11 900 new diagnoses of head and neck cancers in the UK, with around 4000 deaths. Survival rates are higher for those diagnosed earlier, however, patients are often diagnosed later, with 20% palliative at the time of diagnosis. There is a scarcity of head and neck cancer palliative care literature available.

Prognostic scores in laryngeal cancer.

Purpose: To evaluate the utility of various pre-treatment prognostic scoring systems for overall survival (OS) in laryngeal cancer, including neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR), modified Glasgow Prognostic Score (mGPS) and systemic immune-inflammatory index (SIII).

Methods: We undertook a retrospective 5-year study of 220 patients with laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma undergoing active treatment.

Results: On multivariate analysis, low NLR (≤ 2.

Cell-free DNA and circulating tumor cell kinetics in a pre-clinical head and neck Cancer model undergoing radiation therapy.

Background: Monitoring circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) and circulating tumor cells (CTCs), known as liquid biopsies, continue to be developed as diagnostic and prognostic markers for a wide variety of cancer indications, mainly due to their minimally invasive nature and ability to offer a wide range of phenotypic and genetic information. While liquid biopsies maintain significant promising benefits, there is still limited information regarding the kinetics of ctDNA and CTCs following radiation therapy which remains a vital treatment modality in head and neck cancers. This study aims to describe the kinetics of ctDNA and CTCs following radiation exposure in a preclinical rabbit model with VX2 induced buccal carcinoma.

Evaluating an Image-Guided Operating Room with Cone Beam CT for Skull Base Surgery.

 Skull base surgery requires precise preoperative assessment and intraoperative management of the patient. Surgical navigation is routinely used for complex skull base cases; however, the image guidance is commonly based on preoperative scans alone.  The primary objective of this study was to assess the image quality of intraoperative cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) within anatomical landmarks used in sinus and skull base surgery.

An integrated augmented reality surgical navigation platform using multi-modality imaging for guidance.

An integrated augmented reality (AR) surgical navigation system that potentially improves intra-operative visualization of concealed anatomical structures. Integration of real-time tracking technology with a laser pico-projector allows the surgical surface to be augmented by projecting virtual images of lesions and critical structures created by multimodality imaging. We aim to quantitatively and qualitatively evaluate the performance of a prototype interactive AR surgical navigation system through a series of pre-clinical studies.