A single centre's experience of 23 cases of total rhinectomy for the treatment of squamous cell carcinoma involving the nasal vestibule.

Purpose: This study aims to analyse the oncological outcomes of total rhinectomy (TR) for squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) involving the nasal vestibule, and to identify prognostic factors for disease recurrence.

Methods: A retrospective single-centre study was conducted between September 2003 and February 2021 including all patients who underwent a TR for a SCC involving the nasal vestibule.

Results: 23 patients were included in the study.

Systematic review of incidence, risk factors, prevention and treatment of post-laryngectomy hypoparathyroidism.

Purpose: Post-laryngectomy hypoparathyroidism is associated with significant short- and long-term morbidities. This systematic review aimed to determine incidence, risk factors, prevention and treatment of post-laryngectomy hypoparathyroidism.

Methods: Medline, EMBASE and the Cochrane library were searched for relevant articles on hypocalcaemia and/or hypoparathyroidism after laryngectomy or pharyngectomy.

Pharyngo-cutaneous fistula complicating laryngectomy in the chemo-radiotherapy organ-preservation epoch.

Pharyngo-cutaneous fistula is a serious complication of laryngectomy, with a significant associated morbidity and mortality. The oncologic success of organ-preservation protocols with radiotherapy or chemo-radiotherapy for laryngeal carcinoma means laryngectomy is increasingly reserved for surgical salvage in the event of persistent or recurrent disease. A retrospective review of fistula incidence after laryngectomy in 171 patients in a UK tertiary referral centre over the last decade was conducted to identify trends in this complication in the epoch of non-surgical organ preservation.

Expert's comment concerning grand rounds case entitled ''postoperative pharyngocutaneous fistula: treated with sternocleidomastoid flap repair and cricopharyngeus myotomy'' (by V.A. Iyoob).

Great care should be taken to minimise damage to the pharynx and upper oesophagus during an anterior approach to the cervical spine. If noticed at the time of surgery primary repair should be carried out; if noticed in the postoperative period, thorough cleaning and placement of a pharyngocutaneous drain will result in spontaneous healing of the majority of fistula. For persistent fistula secondary repair is required using well-vascularised tissue.

Carcinoma arising in a pharyngeal pouch previously treated by endoscopic stapling.

Objectives: A case is described in which squamous cell carcinoma was found during surgery for a recurrent pharyngeal pouch previously treated by endoscopic stapling. A search of the English language literature suggests this is the first reported case of a carcinoma developing in a pharyngeal pouch previously treated by endoscopic stapling.

Study Design: Case report and literature review.

Lymphatic vessel density, nodal metastases, and prognosis in patients with head and neck cancer.

Objective: To examine the relationship between intratumoral lymphatic vessel density and clinical and pathological variables in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Design: Archived paraffin-embedded biopsy specimens were sectioned and stained with hematoxylin-eosin and anti-LYVE-1 antibody, a highly specific marker for lymphatic endothelium. Tumor grade, infiltrating margin, inflammatory infiltrate, and percentage of tumor necrosis were noted and lymphatic vessel density measured using Chalkley point counting.

Scalp and forehead reconstruction using free revascularized tissue transfer.

Objective: To examine the indications for, and the success of, free flap reconstruction in patients with forehead and scalp defects.

Design: Case series.

Setting: Two tertiary referral university teaching hospitals.

Expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-C and VEGF-D, and their receptor VEGFR-3, during different stages of cervical carcinogenesis.

Cervical carcinogenesis has well-defined stages of disease progression including three grades of pre-invasive lesions--cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grades 1-3 (CIN 1-3)--and invasive cervical cancer. However, the biological properties of CIN lesions prone to develop invasive disease are not well defined. Recent observations suggest that early invasive disease spreads to regional lymph nodes in several tumour types and that growth factors (VEGF-C and VEGF-D) involved in new lymphatic vessel formation may play a crucial role in this process.

Head and neck reconstruction with anterolateral thigh flap.

Objective: Our goal was to present our experience with the free anterolateral thigh flap for reconstruction of various cutaneous and mucosal defects of the head and neck.

Study Design: We conducted a retrospective review of 37 patients who underwent reconstruction between 1994 and 2002. Outcome measures included ethnicity, flap harvest technique, vascular anatomy, flap success, general surgical complications, and donor site morbidity.

Intratumoral lymphatics and lymph node metastases in papillary thyroid carcinoma.

Objective: To examine the relationship between lymphatic vessel density and clinical and pathological variables in patients with well-differentiated papillary thyroid carcinoma.

Subjects: Clinical information was retrieved on 109 previously untreated patients with well-differentiated papillary thyroid carcinoma treated with total thyroidectomy and postoperative iodine I 131 ablation. Median follow-up was 38 months.

Predictive value of serum thyroglobulin after surgery for thyroid carcinoma.

Objective: To determine the relationship between stimulated serum thyroglobulin levels (taken 3 months after total thyroidectomy) and tumor stage and recurrence in patients with well-differentiated thyroid carcinoma.

Study Design: Retrospective chart review in a tertiary care institution.

Methods: Two hundred thirteen consecutive patients with well differentiated thyroid carcinoma treated between 1983 and 1998 were identified.

Impact of nodal metastases on prognosis in patients with well-differentiated thyroid cancer.

Objectives: To study the clinical and pathological variables predicting lymph node metastases in patients with well-differentiated thyroid carcinoma and to examine the impact of these metastases on recurrence and survival.

Design: Cohort study. Median follow-up, 56 months.

Hypoxia-inducible factors HIF-1alpha and HIF-2alpha in head and neck cancer: relationship to tumor biology and treatment outcome in surgically resected patients.

Hypoxia within head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) predicts a poor response to radiotherapy and poor prognosis. Hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1 and HIF-2 are nuclear transcription factors that regulate the cellular response to hypoxia and are important for solid tumor growth and survival. Overexpression of HIF-1alpha and HIF-2alpha was demonstrated in three HNSCC cell lines under hypoxia and tumor tissue versus normal tissue (n = 20, HIF-1alpha, P = 0.

Overexpression of cyclin D1 and underexpression of p27 predict lymph node metastases in papillary thyroid carcinoma.

Lymph node metastasis in papillary thyroid carcinoma increases the morbidity of treatment and the risk of local regional relapse and may also affect cure rates and survival. Factors that predict lymph node metastasis are, however, unclear. We analyzed 125 patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma for factors that predict lymph node metastasis.

Intratumoral lymphangiogenesis and lymph node metastasis in head and neck cancer.

How tumors access and spread via the lymphatics is not understood. Although it is clear that dissemination via the blood system involves hemangiogenesis, it is uncertain whether tumors also induce lymphangiogenesis or simply invade existing peritumoral vessels. To address the issue we quantitated tumor lymph vessels in archival specimens of head and neck cancer by immunostaining for the recently described lymphatic endothelial marker LYVE-1, the vascular endothelial marker CD34, and the pKi67 proliferation marker, correlating lymph vessel density and proliferation index with clinical and pathological variables.