Comparison of clinical and computed tomographic staging of head and neck tumors.

The extent of tumor was staged independently using conventional clinical methods and high-resolution computed tomography (CT) in 100 patients with tumors at the base of the skull, nasopharynx, oropharynx, hypopharynx, larynx, nose, and paranasal sinuses. Conventional clinical methods used for staging included physical examination, routine biopsy, routine radiography, tomography, and sonography when appropriate. In 10 patients, CT identified tumors that had not been apparent clinically; eight of these were in the nasopharynx and two in the hypopharynx.

The dentist as a referral source of first episode head and neck cancer patients.

This analysis was conducted to shed more light on the role of the dentist in the detection and referral of patients with head and neck cancer. No other study of the referral practices of dentists has examined the characteristics of these patients in contrast to those referred by physicians to understand the selection of pathways to care. The findings reported here indicate that: "anatomical provinces" exist for both types of practitioners that are well recognized by the lay community and perhaps reinforced by the health field; advanced stage referrals on the parts of physicians may occur because patients delayed seeking care until symptoms required medical attention; and dentists as a group may b better prepared to detect oral cavity lesions, but not lesions at other head and neck sites.

Squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity in young adults.

The 12 patients less than 35 years of age treated for squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity at the American Oncologic Hospital between 1954-1979 are examined. Group A (eight patients) had involvement of the tongue; Group B (4 patients) had carcinoma of other oral sites. Mean "T" stage for Group A and Group B was 1 and 1.