Cisplatin-functionalized dual-functional bone substitute granules for bone defect treatment after bone tumor resection.

Invasive bone tumors pose a significant healthcare challenge, often requiring systemic chemotherapy and limb salvage surgery. However, these strategies are hampered by severe side effects, complex post-resection bone defects, and high local recurrence rates. To address this, we developed dual-functional bone substitute biomaterials by functionalizing commercially available bone substitute granules (Bio-Oss® and MBCP®+) with the established anticancer agent cisplatin.

Tumor control of cervical lymph node metastases of unknown primary origin: the impact of the radiotherapy target volume.

Purpose: Debate on the extent of treatment of neck metastasis of cancer of unknown primary tumors (CUPs) is still ongoing. In two Dutch tertiary referral centers, the post-surgical radiation target volume changed from the bilateral neck including the pharyngeal axis to the unilateral neck only, in the course of the last decade. This study aims to investigate the outcome of patients with CUP before and after de-escalation of post-surgical radiotherapy.

Sinonasal cancer in The Netherlands: Follow-up of a population-based study 1989-2014 and incidence of occupation-related adenocarcinoma.

Background: Long-term trends of sinonasal cancer in The Netherlands have been investigated with particular attention on adenocarcinoma for which wood or leather dust is a well-known risk factor.

Methods: All 4345 patients (1989-2014) registered in the Netherlands Cancer Registry were included. Standardized 3-year moving incidence rates per 1 000 000/person-years, and estimated annual percentage change (EAPC) were calculated.

Digital Video Laryngoscopy and Flexible Endoscopic Biopsies as an Alternative Diagnostic Workup in Laryngopharyngeal Cancer: A Prospective Clinical Study.

Objectives: An office-based workup strategy for patients with laryngopharyngeal lesions suspicious for carcinoma is analyzed. The feasibility of office-based transnasal flexible endoscopic biopsies under local anesthesia and the impact on the diagnostic workup are evaluated.

Methods: This study is a prospective analysis of patients with laryngeal, oropharyngeal, and hypopharyngeal lesions suspicious for carcinoma.

Spontaneous oesophageal rupture: a diagnostic challenge in resource-limited setting.

Spontaneous oesophageal rupture after swallowing a bolus of food is a very rare condition. In resource-limited settings, it is very challenging to diagnose this condition especially when its presentation is atypical. Its prognosis is very poor when diagnosis is delayed due to risk of mediastinitis.

The role of systemic therapy in the management of sinonasal cancer: A critical review.

Purpose: Due to the rarity and the variety of histological types of sinonasal cancers, there is a paucity of data regarding strategy for their optimal treatment. Generally, outcomes of advanced and higher grade tumors remain unsatisfactory, despite the employment of sophisticated surgical approaches, technical advances in radiation techniques and the use of heavy ion particles. In this context, we critically evaluated the role of systemic therapy as part of a multidisciplinary approach to locally advanced disease.

Pathology-based validation of FDG PET segmentation tools for volume assessment of lymph node metastases from head and neck cancer.

Purpose: FDG PET is increasingly incorporated into radiation treatment planning of head and neck cancer. However, there are only limited data on the accuracy of radiotherapy target volume delineation by FDG PET. The purpose of this study was to validate FDG PET segmentation tools for volume assessment of lymph node metastases from head and neck cancer against the pathological method as the standard.

Novel diagnostic modalities for assessment of the clinically node-negative neck in oral squamous-cell carcinoma.

Oral squamous-cell carcinomas arise in mucosal linings of the oral cavity and frequently metastasise to regional lymph nodes in the neck. The presence of nodal metastases is a determinant of prognosis and clinical management. The neck is staged by palpation and imaging, but accuracy of these techniques to detect small metastases is low.

Validation of a gene expression signature for assessment of lymph node metastasis in oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Purpose: Current assessment of lymph node metastasis in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma is not accurate enough to prevent overtreatment. The aim of this study was validation of a gene expression signature for distinguishing metastasizing (N+) from nonmetastasizing (N0) squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity (OSCC) and oropharynx (OPSCC) in a large multicenter cohort, using a diagnostic DNA microarray in a Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments/International Organization for Standardization-approved laboratory.

Methods: A multigene signature, previously reported as predictive for the presence of lymph node metastases in OSCC and OPSCC, was first re-evaluated and trained on 94 samples using generic, whole-genome, DNA microarrays.

Aggressive fibromatosis in the head and neck region: Benign tumor with often mutilating effects.

Background: Aggressive fibromatosis (AF) or desmoid tumor of the head and neck region is a rare, usually unresectable, benign soft tissue tumor with locally aggressive behavior.

Methods And Results: A 31-year-old woman presented with a progressive trismus, a swelling in the retromandibular area, as well as loss of sensibility of the maxillary and mandibular branch of the trigeminal nerve. MRI of the head and neck revealed an infiltrative mass involving the masticator, parapharyngeal, and prevertebral and paravertebral space on the left with intracranial extension through the orbital fissure.

Interobserver variability of laryngeal mucosal premalignant lesions: a histopathological evaluation.

The objective of this study is to measure interobserver variability in the classification of laryngeal mucosal premalignant lesions by reassessing the histopathology of previously diagnosed cases and to determine the possible therapeutic consequences of disagreement among observers. Histopathological assessment of 110 laryngeal mucosal premalignant lesions was done by three pathologists. Each slide had to be classified according to the World Health Organization, Squamous Intraepithelial Neoplasia, and the Ljubljana Squamous Intraepithelial Lesions systems.

β-TCP versus autologous bone for repair of alveolar clefts in a goat model.

Objective: The aim of this study in goats was to test the hypothesis that a novel synthetic bone substitute beta tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) can work as well as autologous bone harvested from the iliac crest for grafting and repair of alveolar clefts.

Design: Ten adult Dutch milk goats (Capra hircus) were used in a split-mouth study design.

Main Outcome Measures: Volumetric histologic assessment of new bone formation and radiographic measurement of orthodontic movement of teeth in a formerly created alveolar cleft.

Survival analysis of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: influence of smoking and drinking.

Background: Head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCCs) are associated with tobacco and alcohol; however, the prognostic relevance of these substances is unclear.

Methods: Univariate and multivariate survival analyses were performed for patients with (n = 1829) and without (n = 183) substance use.

Results: HNSCC-specific survival (death due to primary-HNSCC or recurrent HNSCC) and HNSCC/second primary tumor-specific survival (death due to primary-HNSCC or recurrent HNSCC or second primary tumor) were not significantly different for patients who smoked and drank alcohol (hazard ratio [HR], 1.

High levels of p53 expression correlate with DNA aneuploidy in (pre)malignancies of the vulva.

The molecular pathogenesis of human papilloma virus-unrelated vulvar squamous cell carcinoma is not well known. Whether malignant progression of lichen sclerosus and differentiated vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia to vulvar squamous cell carcinoma could be accompanied by altered DNA content has not been studied extensively. DNA content in isolated nuclei of microdissected normal vulvar epithelium (n = 2), lichen sclerosus (n = 9), differentiated vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia (n = 13), and squamous cell carcinoma (n = 17) from 22 patients was measured via DNA image cytometry.

Histopathologic validation of 3'-deoxy-3'-18F-fluorothymidine PET in squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity.

Unlabelled: Accelerated tumor cell repopulation is an important mechanism adversely affecting therapeutic outcome in head and neck cancer. The noninvasive assessment of the proliferative state of a tumor by PET may provide a selection tool for customized treatment. 3'-deoxy-3'-(18)F-fluorothymidine ((18)F-FLT) is a PET tracer that is phosphorylated by thymidine kinase 1 (TK-1) and, as such, reflects cellular proliferation.

Activated leukocyte cell adhesion molecule expression predicts lymph node metastasis in oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Lymphatic metastasis of oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is important for prognosis and clinical decision making concerning the treatment of the neck but may be difficult to detect. Activated leukocyte cell adhesion molecule (ALCAM), has been shown to correlate with prognosis or tumor grade in different tumor types and may be a predictor of lymphatic metastasis. ALCAM expression at the invasive front in fresh frozen tissue samples of oral SCC's (n=41) was studied immunohistochemically, using a polyclonal antibody directed against ALCAM's extracellular domain.

Unilateral condylar hyperactivity: a histopathologic analysis of 47 patients.

Purpose: To perform a histopathologic analysis of condyles that were resected because of unilateral condylar hyperactivity and compare the results of the bone scan with the histopathologic findings.

Patients And Methods: A total of 47 resected condyles were histopathologically examined. In 29 cases, a single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) bone scan was available.

Metastatic potential of an aneurysmal bone cyst.

Aneurysmal bone cysts (ABCs) are benign bone tumors consisting of blood-filled cavities lined by connective tissue septa. Recently, the hypothesis that ABCs are lesions reactive to local hemodynamics has been challenged after the discovery of specific recurrent chromosomal abnormalities. Multiple cases of malignant transformation of ABC into (osteo)sarcoma have been described, as well as a number of cases of telangiectatic osteosarcoma which had been misdiagnosed as ABC.

Grading systems in head and neck dysplasia: their prognostic value, weaknesses and utility.

Background: Grading of dysplasia, including head and neck lesions, continues to be a hotly debated subject. It is subjective and lacks intra- and inter-observer reproducibility due to the insufficiency of validated morphological criteria and the biological nature of dysplasia. Moreover, due to the absence of a consensus, several systems are currently employed.

Trends in incidence and mortality of thyroid carcinoma in The Netherlands between 1989 and 2003: correlation with thyroid fine-needle aspiration cytology and thyroid surgery.

A persistent increase in incidence of thyroid carcinoma (TC) has been reported worldwide. The aim of our study was to assess trends in incidence and mortality of TC in The Netherlands between 1989 and 2003 and to examine whether these trends correlate with changes in diagnostic practices such as changes in the number of fine needle aspiration biopsies (FNAB) and/or thyroid surgeries. Population-based incidence and mortality data were retrieved from the Netherlands Cancer Registry.

18F-FLT PET does not discriminate between reactive and metastatic lymph nodes in primary head and neck cancer patients.

Unlabelled: Repopulation of clonogenic tumor cells is inversely correlated with radiation treatment outcome in head and neck squamous cell carcinomas. A functional imaging tool to assess the proliferative activity of tumors could improve patient selection for treatment modifications and could be used for evaluation of early treatment response. The PET tracer 3'-deoxy-3'-(18)F-fluorothymidine ((18)F-FLT) can image tumor cell proliferation before and during radiotherapy, and it may provide biologic tumor information useful in radiotherapy planning.

Dissection of a metastatic gene expression signature into distinct components.

Background: Metastasis, the process whereby cancer cells spread, is in part caused by an incompletely understood interplay between cancer cells and the surrounding stroma. Gene expression studies typically analyze samples containing tumor cells and stroma. Samples with less than 50% tumor cells are generally excluded, thereby reducing the number of patients that can benefit from clinically relevant signatures.

Maintenance of head and neck tumor gene expression profiles upon lymph node metastasis.

Spread of cancer and development of solid metastases at distant sites is the main cause of cancer-related deaths. To understand and treat metastases, it is important to determine at which stages the most pivotal steps for development of metastases occur. In head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), metastasis nearly always occurs first in local lymph nodes before development of distant metastasis.