Outcomes in Minor Salivary Gland Tumors-A 20+ Year Tertiary-Care Center Experience.

Objective: Minor salivary gland carcinomas are challenging to study due to their rarity and heterogeneity. We aim to further characterize clinical characteristics, treatment, and outcomes over 20 years within a single institution.

Study Design: Retrospective chart review was conducted on 210 patients who received primary treatment for minor salivary gland malignancy from 2000 to 2022.

Intensity-Modulated Reirradiation Therapy With Nivolumab in Recurrent or Second Primary Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma: A Nonrandomized Controlled Trial.

Importance: Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) reirradiation of nonmetastatic recurrent or second primary head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) results in poor progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS).

Objective: To investigate the tolerability, PFS, OS, and patient-reported outcomes with nivolumab (approved standard of care for patients with HNSCC) during and after IMRT reirradiation.

Design, Setting, And Participants: In this multicenter nonrandomized phase 2 single-arm trial, the treatment outcomes of patients with recurrent or second primary HNSCC who satisfied recursive partitioning analysis class 1 and 2 definitions were evaluated.

Evaluating the impact of the degree of extranodal extension on outcomes in locally advanced oral cavity cancer.

Background: Evaluate whether extranodal extension (ENE) extent impacts outcomes in patients with oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OCSCC).

Methods: From an institutional database, patients with OCSCC and pathologic ENE who received adjuvant treatment were included. Surgical slides were reviewed to confirm ENE extent.

Margin Assessment Methods in Oral Cavity Squamous Cell Carcinoma and Recurrence: Tumor Bed vs Resection Specimen Sampling.

Importance: Positive margins and margin clearance are risk factors for recurrence in oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OCSCC), and these features are used to guide decisions regarding adjuvant radiation treatment. However, the prognostic value of intraoperative tumor bed vs resection specimen sampling is not well defined.

Objective: To determine the prognostic implications of intraoperative margin assessment methods (tumor bed vs resection specimen sampling) with recurrence among patients who undergo surgical resection for OCSCC.

Survival Outcomes of Advanced Thyroid Cancer Enriched in Brain Metastases Following Treatment With Small Molecule Inhibitors.

Objective: Small molecule inhibitors (SMIs) are targeted therapies increasingly used in advanced thyroid carcinomas. This study aimed to evaluate the survival outcomes of thyroid cancer on SMI treatment, including in patients with brain metastases.

Methods: This retrospective study included patients with thyroid carcinomas who received at least one SMI between 2008 and 2022 at a tertiary level, academic institution.

Immunotherapy response in patients with cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma of head and neck with cranial nerve involvement.

Background: Metastatic or locally advanced cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) can be treated with immunotherapy (IO). Cranial nerve involvement (CNI) is uncommon in cSCC and is a poor prognostic factor. Our aim is to describe how patients with CNI respond to IO monotherapy and/or as an adjunct to RT.

Online verification of breath-hold reproducibility using kV-triggered imaging for liver stereotactic body radiation therapy.

Purpose: To introduce a new technique for online breath-hold verification for liver stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) based on kilovoltage-triggered imaging and liver dome positions.

Material And Methods: Twenty-five liver SBRT patients treated with deep inspiration breath-hold were included in this IRB-approved study. To verify the breath-hold reproducibility during treatment, a KV-triggered image was acquired at the beginning of each breath-hold.

Utilizing Dynamic Risk Stratification in Patients With Tall Cell Variant Papillary Thyroid Cancer.

Objectives: Tall cell variant (TCV) papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) is a subtype of PTC associated with aggressive tumor behavior, advanced stage, and higher rates of recurrence and mortality. The present study aimed to test an established dynamic risk stratification tool in the TCV population, with the goal of better predicting the postoperative course of these patients.

Study Design: Retrospective chart review.

Rates of osteoradionecrosis in resected oral cavity cancer reconstructed with free tissue transfer in the intensity-modulated radiotherapy era.

Background: Resected oral cavity carcinoma defects are often reconstructed with osteocutaneous or soft-tissue free flaps, but risk of osteoradionecrosis (ORN) is unknown.

Methods: This retrospective study included oral cavity carcinoma treated with free-tissue reconstruction and postoperative IMRT between 2000 and 2019. Risk-regression assessed risk factors for grade ≥2 ORN.

Comparison of real-world outcomes following immunotherapy in recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma with outcomes of randomized controlled trials.

Objectives: Evaluate outcomes of patients with recurrent or metastatic (R/M) head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) treated with immunotherapy (IO).

Methods: Among patients with R/M HNSCC treated with IO in this retrospective single-institution cohort, Cox regression was used to compare overall survival (OS) for those with platinum-refractory disease and those treated in the first-line setting with OS from KEYNOTE-040/048, respectively. Multivariable Cox regression was used to identify predictors of OS.

Association of Treatment Strategies and Tumor Characteristics With Overall Survival Among Patients With Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer: A Single-Institution 21-Year Experience.

Importance: Survival outcomes for anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC), the most aggressive subtype of thyroid cancers, have remained poor. However, targeted therapies and immunotherapies present new opportunities for treatment of this disease. Evaluations of survival outcomes over time with new multimodal therapies are needed for optimizing treatment plans.

Using feasibility dose-volume histograms to reduce intercampus plan quality variability for head-and-neck cancer.

The purpose of this work is to objectively assess variability of intercampus plan quality for head-and-neck (HN) cancer and to test utility of a priori feasibility dose-volume histograms (FDVHs) as planning dose goals. In this study, 109 plans treated from 2017 to 2019 were selected, with 52 from the main campus and 57 from various regional centers. For each patient, the planning computed tomography images and contours were imported into a commercial program to generate FDVHs with a feasibility value (f-value) ranging from 0.

A Reappraisal of Definitive Chemoradiotherapy for Older Adults With Advanced Head and Neck Cancer.

Background/aim: Definitive treatment for locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (LAHNSCC) is often compromised in older adults due to concerns about potential treatment toxicity intolerance. We reviewed our institutional experience with definitive management of older adults with LAHNSCC.

Patients And Methods: From our Institutional Review Board-approved registry, we identified patients aged >60 years with stage III-IV, M0 LAHNSCC (seventh/earlier editions of the American Joint Committee on Cancer classification) treated with definitive radiotherapy from 1993-2019.

Prognostic value of computed tomography scan detection of cartilage invasion in advanced laryngeal cancer treated with primary total laryngectomy.

Background: We sought to determine whether detection of cartilage invasion (CI) by computed tomography predicts oncologic outcomes after primary total laryngectomy.

Methods: Retrospective cohort study comparing oncologic outcomes between radiologic versus pathologic diagnosis.

Results: Assessment of clear CI versus gestalt CI resulted in 84% versus 48% specificity, 90.

Primary Total Laryngectomy versus Organ Preservation for Locally Advanced T3/T4a Laryngeal Cancer.

Objective: Organ preservation (OP) treatment for advanced laryngeal cancer has increased compared to primary total laryngectomy. Our study compares oncologic and functional outcomes between these approaches.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Local Control With Single-Fraction Lung Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy is not influenced by Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Histologic Subtype.

Introduction/background: For early stage medically inoperable lung cancer treated with fractionated stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT), higher local failure is associated with squamous carcinoma (SqC) compared to adenocarcinoma (AC). This study explored whether histology influences single-fraction SBRT local control.

Materials And Methods: We surveyed our prospective data registry from 12/2009 to 12/2019 for SF-SBRT cases with biopsy-proven AC or SqC only.

Limited Toxicity of Hypofractionated Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy for Head and Neck Cancer.

Background/aim: Hypofractionated radiation therapy is not commonly used in head and neck cancers (HNC) due to increased toxicity observed in historical cohorts. This study reviews our institutional experience using hypofractionated intensity modulated radiation therapy (H-IMRT) for HNC.

Patients And Methods: A retrospective cohort study of 56 patients with HNC treated with H-IMRT with ≥50 Gy in 20 fractions was conducted.

Nasopharyngeal cancer: Incidence and prognosis of human papillomavirus and Epstein-Barr virus association at a single North American institution.

Background: The prognostication of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and human papillomavirus (HPV) status in nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) is unclear.

Methods: This retrospective study analyzed NPC from 2000 to 2019.

Results: Seventy-eight patients were included: 43 EBV , 12 HPV , 23 EBV /HPV , and 0 EBV /HPV .