Sentinel Node in Oral Cancer: The Nuclear Medicine Aspects. A Survey from the Sentinel European Node Trial.

Purpose: Nuclear imaging plays a crucial role in lymphatic mapping of oral cancer. This evaluation represents a subanalysis of the original multicenter SENT trial data set, involving 434 patients with T1-T2, N0, and M0 oral squamous cell carcinoma. The impact of acquisition techniques, tracer injection timing relative to surgery, and causes of false-negative rate were assessed.

Sentinel European Node Trial (SENT): 3-year results of sentinel node biopsy in oral cancer.

Purpose: Optimum management of the N0 neck is unresolved in oral cancer. Sentinel node biopsy (SNB) can reliably detect microscopic lymph node metastasis. The object of this study was to establish whether the technique was both reliable in staging the N0 neck and a safe oncological procedure in patients with early-stage oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Predictive markers of response to neoadjuvant therapy in rectal cancer.

Background: Neoadjuvant therapy followed by radical surgery is the standard treatment in locally advanced rectal cancer. It is important to predict the response because the treatment has side effects and is costly. The aim of this study was to establish the relationship among clinical, pathologic, and molecular biomarkers and the response to neoadjuvant therapy.

DNA methylation signatures identify biologically distinct thyroid cancer subtypes.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the global patterns of aberrant DNA methylation in thyroid cancer.

Research Design And Methods: We have used DNA methylation arrays to determine, for the first time, the genome-wide promoter methylation status of papillary, follicular, medullary, and anaplastic thyroid tumors.

Results: We identified 262 and 352 hypermethylated and 13 and 21 hypomethylated genes in differentiated papillary and follicular tumors, respectively.

Sebaceous adenoma of the parotid gland.

Tumors of the salivary glands constitute an important field of oral and maxillofacial pathology. The majority of salivary gland neoplasms are benign, with malignant salivary tumors accounting for 15 to 32 percent. The most common site for salivary gland tumors is the parotid gland, accounting up to 80 percent of all cases.

Prognostic significance of p53 expression in oral squamous cell carcinoma without neck node metastases.

Background: Aberrations of the p53 gene and overexpression of its protein are widely recognized markers of malignancy including oral squamous cell carcinomas. This study was performed to evaluate the relationship of immunoexpression of p53 protein in series of 91 squamous cell carcinomas of the oral cavity with clinicopathologic parameters and to investigate whether p53 immunoexpression might influence the clinical outcome of the disease.

Methods: From a group of 287 consecutive patients, 91 surgically treated ones were randomly selected.

Neck schwannomas.

Schwannomas are peripheral nerve tumours of nerve sheath origin. Twenty-five to 45 percent of extracranial schwannomas occur in the head and neck region. We present 2 cases of schwannomas that arise from the vagus and cervical plexus.