Basaloid squamous cell carcinoma of oral cavity and oropharynx.

Basaloid squamous cell carcinoma is a variant of squamous cell carcinoma with distinctive histological and immunohistochemical characteristics and aggressive behaviour involving predominantly the upper aerodigestive tract. We describe the clinicopathological findings, along with immunohistochemical investigations, in 5 new cases with carcinoma localized in oral cavity and oropharynx.     

Radiological assessment of mandibular invasion in squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity and oropharynx

BackgroundPreoperative assessment of mandibular bone invasion in squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity and oropharynx is crucial for optimizing bone resection. The principal aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic value of CT and MR imaging for the diagnosis of mandibular bone invasion compared to the histological reference. In addition, we assessed the survival impact of bone invasion.Patients and methodsA single-center retrospective study included all consecutive patients treated by mandibular bone interruption for squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity and/or oropharynx.ResultsSixty-eight patients were included. Prevalence of bone invasion on histology was 43%. Sensitivity, specificity and positive and negative predictive value were respectively 70%, 71%, 66% and 76% for CT compared with histologic analysis, 83%, 50%, 59% and 78% for MRI, and 83%, 62% 62%, 83% for associated CT and MRI. The two tests showed good agreement, with kappa index 0.69 (95% CI, 0.49–0.89) (P < 0.0001). There was no difference in overall survival (log-rank > 0.70) between the groups with and without bone invasion.ConclusionCT and MRI are complementary for preoperative assessment of mandibular bone invasion, be it cortical and/or medullary, and in some cases may allow mandibular bone-sparing.     

Surgical pathology of cancer of the oral cavity and oropharynx

A study was designed to determine the influence of certain surgical pathologic findings on tumor spread and survival in patients with cancer of the oral cavity and oropharynx. All patients with the histopathological diagnosis of carcinoma of the oral cavity or oropharynx from 1955 to 1983 were included in the study. Using the Head and Neck Tumor Registry of the department of otolaryngology of the Washington University School of Medicine, information was obtained regarding preoperative evaluation, staging, classification, diagnosis, treatment, surgical pathology parameters, and outcome results. The patient populations consisted of 545 patients with oral cavity cancer and 224 patients with oropharynx cancer, all of whom were eligible for 3-year follow-up. Information from a retrospective analysis of the pretreatment examination records regarding site and size of the primary tumor and neck dissection, and specific treatment, and from surgical pathology reports regarding site, size, tumor spread and resection margins, was correlated with treatment outcome. The database file was analyzed using dbase III and its companion program Framework, and SAS PC (Statistical Analysis Systems for personal computers).     

Microvascular invasion in cancer of the oral cavity and oropharynx

The presence of squamous cell carcinoma within capillaries and/or venules in the immediate vicinity of primary lesions of the oral cavity and oropharynx may be related to regional lymph node metastasis. To evaluate this possibility, we have reviewed the clinical and histopathologic features of 43 consecutive cases of previously untreated T2 or greater squamous cell carcinoma of these sites managed with simultaneous surgical treatment of the primary neoplasm and the neck. The incidence of histologically proved cervical metastasis for all lesions with vascular invasion compared with those without vascular involvement was highly significant. No statistical correlation was found for the clinical stage of neck disease or for the other pathologic features of the primary tumor, ie, size, appearance, differentiation, depth of invasion, periphery of lesion, inflammatory infiltrate, and perineural invasion, when compared with the histopathologic status of regional lymph nodes.     

Simultaneous squamous cell carcinomas of the oral cavity and oropharynx

INTRODUCTION: Squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity is often a single localization, but the discovery of another or several associated lesions is not exceptional. The goal of our study was a retrospective analysis of patients having 2 simultaneous squamous cell carcinomas of the upper aerodigestive tract (UADT), i.e. diagnosed during the same panendoscopy by excluding the esophagus and the lung. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Between 1995 and 2001, 1,129 patients were treated for squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity, oropharynx, hypopharynx, and larynx in the Bordeaux Maxillo-facial Surgery Unit. 1% of these patients presented 2 simultaneous squamous cell carcinomas of UADT. RESULTS: Our series was divided in 9 men (75%) and 3 women (25%) with an average age of 61.3 years (48-86). At the end of the study 2 patients were lost to follow-up, 3 patients were alive without recurrence, and 1 patient was alive with recurrence. The average follow-up time was 17.6 months. DISCUSSION: A review of the literature gave an incidence of simultaneous squamous cell carcinomas of UADT varying from 1.3 to 12.8% according to authors. Thus, any patient having squamous cell carcinoma of the UADT must be considered as having an important potential risk to present another simultaneous cancer and to benefit from a systematic panendoscopy. In spite of an early diagnosis, the prognostic of these lesions remains bad.     

Predictive factors of nodal metastases in oral cavity and oropharynx carcinomas.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the value of tumor (T)-related parameters (singly or in association) in predicting the presence of occult metastases in oral cavity and oropharynx carcinomas. STUDY DESIGN: We considered tumor size (T size), Broders' grading of histologic differentiation (G), invasive cell grading (ICG), and thickness. For every single factor, we evaluated the correlation between the parameter and occult metastases in N0 neck disease, the correlation between the parameter and metastases independently from node (N) class, and the relation between the parameter and extracapsular spread. On the basis of previous results, we gave a score to each parameter that showed higher significativity the sum of which we called global score (GS). We compared the predictivity of metastasis of the GS to that of the single parameters to obtain a more efficacious index. METHODS: Sixty-one patients with carcinomas of the oral cavity and oropharynx who underwent surgery on T and N were examined. RESULTS: Our preliminary results have highlighted a significant correlation between G, ICG, and the presence of occult metastases. No correlation between T size and metastases was highlighted. The GS obtained from G and ICG turned out to be highly significant. A strong correlation was found between the ICG score and extracapsular spread: a high risk of extracapsular spread was found in patients with an ICG score > or =13. CONCLUSION: We perform elective neck dissection in T1-T2 N0 neck disease with ICG > or =13 and GS1 > or =9.     

Combined treatment of cancer of the posterior oral cavity and oropharynx

Ninety composite resections were carried out as primary treatment for a squamous carcinoma of the tonsillar region between 1970 and 1978. All patients have been followed-up for at least 3 years, except for 5 who have been lost to follow-up. All patients received postoperative radiotherapy (between 50 Gy and 65 Gy depending on the tumour resection status). Sixty-one patients received preoperative chemotherapy and 42% had clinical reduction of tumour size. The overall survival was 45.5% at 3 years and 43% at 5 years. Local recurrences were the most frequent oncological failure (25%). Tumours classed T3, insufficient tumour resection and lymph node invasion had poor prognostic value. We emphasize the necessity for primary surgery with preoperative chemotherapy and postoperative radiotherapy for squamous carcinoma of the posterior oral cavity and oropharynx.     

High-dose-rate brachytherapy for primary carcinomas of the oral cavity and oropharynx

OBJECTIVE: Local control for patients treated with primary radiation therapy for tumors of the oral cavity is improved using low-dose-rate brachytherapy. Oropharyngeal carcinomas have also been treated with brachytherapy. The few reports in the literature regarding high-dose-rate brachytherapy (HDRBT) for head and neck cancer involve small numbers of patients and often contain a mix of palliative and curative cases. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of HDRBT in the largest reported cohort of primary head and neck cancer patients treated with primary radiation therapy. STUDY DESIGN: This is a prospective nonrandomized study. METHODS: Fifty-five patients with primary untreated squamous cell carcinomas of the oral cavity and oropharynx were analyzed. There were 16 patients with T1, 26 with T2, 8 with T3, and 5 with T4 tumors. All patients received external-beam radiotherapy (EBRT) followed by HDRBT. Thirty-eight patients received hyperfractionated (twice daily) EBRT followed by HDRBT two or three times daily. Patients with cervical adenopathy also received hyperthermia and an electron boost to the site(s) of positive nodes. Median follow-up was 2.7 years. Toxicity and local control were analyzed. Data were analyzed by the Kaplan-Meier life-table method with statistical significance determined by the X2 and log-rank tests. RESULTS: High-dose-rate brachytherapy was extremely well tolerated. Only 9 patients (16%) developed a complication. Four patients developed osteoradionecrosis, and five developed soft tissue necrosis, all of which healed with conservative medical management. No complication required surgical intervention or hospitalization. Actuarial 2-year local control for the entire cohort was 79%. Local control was 87% for patients with T1 (15/16) and T2 (22/26) tumors versus 47% for T3 (5/8) and T4 (2/5) tumors (P < .01). CONCLUSIONS: High-dose-rate brachytherapy is feasible as a boost for patients with primary squamous cell carcinomas of the oral cavity and oropharynx. Patients with T1 and T2 tumors fared exceptionally well; those with advanced tumors may require more aggressive treatment, such as higher radiation doses, surgical resection, or systemic chemotherapy. The use of HDRBT both shortens the overall treatment time and limits the volume of tissue exposed to high doses of radiation therapy. In the future, as more patients treated with HDRBT are evaluable, we hope to identify potential factors that predict for local control so that we may select patients optimally for this treatment.     

Microvascular invasion and survival in cancer of the oral cavity and oropharynx

Although the presence of squamous cell carcinoma within the peritumoral vascular spaces of primary lesions of the oral cavity and oropharynx has been statistically linked to regional lymph node metastases, the association of this finding with disease control and survival has not been well demonstrated. To evaluate this relationship, we have reviewed the clinical and histopathologic features of 65 consecutive cases of previously untreated T2 or greater squamous cell carcinoma of these sites managed by simultaneous surgical treatment of the primary lesion and regional lymph nodes. Of all the histopathologic features of the primary lesion studied, vascular invasion had the greatest impact on survival, as confirmed by both univariate and multivariate analysis. In addition, vascular invasion correlated statistically with local recurrence, neck recurrence, and distant metastasis.     

Prognostic significance of p27 expression in carcinoma of the oral cavity and oropharynx.

OBJECTIVE: To study the role of p27, a cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor, as a prognostic indicator in squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity and oropharynx. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective review of 35 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity and oropharynx who presented to Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois, between 1986 and 1995. METHODS: Inclusion criteria were the availability of clinical information, archival pretreatment biopsy material, and a minimum follow-up of 24 months. p27 staining was scored for frequency and intensity of tumor cell expression following immunoperoxidase staining using standard techniques. Samples of squamous epithelium from the uvula of 15 nonsmoking patients without past or present squamous cell carcinoma were used as normal controls. RESULTS: The association of p27 staining and other factors with response to treatment was evaluated by Fisher's Exact Test and with overall and disease-free survival by the Kaplan-Meier method with multivariate Cox regression. Low levels of p27 expression correlated significantly with unfavorable treatment response (P<.0001), shorter overall survival (P = .0001), and shorter disease-free survival (P = .003). Tumor site (alveolus) was also associated with shorter disease-free (though not overall) survival, but the association with p27 was independent of stage and site in multivariate analysis.     

In vivo optical coherence tomography of the human oral cavity and oropharynx

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is an evolving imaging modality that combines interferometry with low-coherence light to produce high-resolution tissue imaging. Cross-sectional in vivo images were obtained using an OCT device consisting of a Michelson interferometer, 1.3-microm broadband light source, and a handheld fiberoptic imaging probe. Image pixel resolution approached 10 microm. The mucosa of the oral cavity and oropharynx were examined in 41 patients during operative endoscopy. Optical coherence tomographic imaging was combined with endoscopic photography for gross and histologic image correlation. Optical coherence tomographic images of the oral cavity and oropharynx provided microanatomical information on the epithelium, basement membrane (BM), and supporting lamina propria (LP) of the mucosa. Normal microstructures identified in these tissues included an overlying keratin layer, papillae, ducts, glands, and blood vessels. Regions of pathologic features studied included mature scar, granulation tissue, mucous cysts, leukoplakia, and invasive cancer. Optical coherence tomographic imaging showed distinct zones of normal, altered, and ablated tissue microstructures for each pathologic process studied. Abnormal findings were directly compared with regions of normal tissue or conventional histopathologic features when tissue for analysis was available. This study provides a composite series of in vivo OCT images of the oral cavity and oropharynx in a variety of normal regions and pathologic states as well as outline future applications of OCT technology.     

Sentinel node localization in oral cavity and oropharynx squamous cell cancer

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the feasibility and predictive ability of the sentinel node localization technique for patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity or oropharynx and clinically negative necks. DESIGN: Prospective, efficacy study comparing the histopathologic status of the sentinel node with that of the remaining neck dissection specimen. SETTING: Tertiary referral center. PATIENTS: Patients with T1 or T2 disease and clinically negative necks were eligible for the study. Nine previously untreated patients with oral cavity or oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma were enrolled in the study. INTERVENTIONS: Unfiltered technetium Tc 99m sulfur colloid injections of the primary tumor and lymphoscintigraphy were performed on the day before surgery. Intraoperatively, the sentinel node(s) was localized with a gamma probe and removed after tumor resection and before neck dissection. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome was the negative predictive value of the histopathologic status of the sentinel node for predicting cervical metastases. RESULTS: Sentinel nodes were identified in 9 previously untreated patients. In 5 patients, there were no positive nodes. In 4 patients, the sentinel nodes were the only histopathologically positive nodes. In previously untreated patients, the sentinel node technique had a negative predictive value of 100% for cervical metastasis. CONCLUSIONS: Our preliminary investigation shows that sentinel node localization is technically feasible in head and neck surgery and is predictive of cervical metastasis. The sentinel node technique has the potential to decrease the number of neck dissections performed in clinically negative necks, thus reducing the associated morbidity for patients in this group.     

Detection of the sentinal node in squamous-cell carcinoma of the oral cavity and oropharynx. Preliminary study

INTRODUCTION: The sentinel lymph node is defined as the first relay of the lymphatic drainage of the tumor. Isotopic detection of the sentinel lymph node and absence of its metastatic invasion should theoretically be predictive of total drainage of the tumor. The goal of this study was to evaluate sentinel lymph node detectability by lymphoscintigraphy in N0 and/or N1 squamous-cell carcinoma of oral cavity and oropharynx and to determine its negative predictive value. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Lymphoscintigraphy was used for sentinel lymph node detection. The procedure required peritumoral injection of technicium-labeled colloids to enable anatomical and cutaneous location of the sentinel lymph node. A one-way Tyco-Mallinckrodt probe was used for intraoperative detection of the sentinel lymph node. This prospective study included 21 patients with N0 or N1 squamous-cell carcinoma of the oral cavity and the oropharynx. The surgical attitude based on T and N was not modified in this prospective study without direct individual benefit for the patient. Neck dissection was achieved without difficulty. RESULTS: The sentinel lymph node was identified in 20 out of 21 subjects. The sentinel lymph node was not identified in one patient with recurrence T2N0M0 squamous-cell carcinoma of the oropharynx radiated 3 years earlier. The percentage of false-negatives was 12.5% (1 false-negative out of 8 positive patients), giving a sensibility of the detection method of 87.5% (IC (95%)=[47.35-99.68]). This false-negative patient had a T3N0M0 squamous-cell carcinoma of the oropharynx with a sentinel lymph node removed in territory III. Neck dissection revealed 1 N + R- in the sub-mandibular territory associated with 27 N-R-. The probability of not finding a metastatic node at neck dissection when the sentinel lymph node is not metastatic (negative predictive value) was 92.3% (12/13) (IC (95)=[63.97-99.81]). The specificity of the method was 100%, as was the positive predictive value, because no sentinel node was diagnosed positive wrongly on frozen sections among patients without true histological node metastasis. DISCUSSION: For routine care of patients with squamous-cell carcinoma of the oral cavity and the oropharynx detection of the sentinel lymph node is proposed primarily for patients with T1T2N0 staging. Larger tumors can modify the architecture and flow within the lymphatic ducts, and consequently even the concept of a sentinel lymph node. Systematic neck dissection is required or T3T4, even when N0. Our series of T1T2N0 tumors is too small to enable statistically significant conclusions. A low level of false-negative in a larger series would be necessary to propose this technique instead of convention neck dissection for T1T2 tumors of the oral cavity and oropharynx.     

Recurrence of premalignant oral cavity and oropharynx lesions after pulsed diode laser treatment

PurposeLeukoplakia is common with a 1 % incidence in the population and may harbor preneoplastic changes. Diode lasers provide both precision and coagulation for excision of superficial lesions in clinical and operative settings with little damage to deeper tissue. We aim to determine the rate of oral and oropharyngeal hyperkeratosis and dysplasia recurrence after treatment with diode laser.Materials and methodsPatients with oral or oropharyngeal hyperkeratotic or mild dysplastic lesions treated with pulsed diode laser between 2013 and 2020 at a tertiary academic institution were analyzed. The main outcome measure was recurrence of hyperkeratosis and dysplasia after treatment.ResultsFourteen patients received diode laser treatment for hyperkeratotic or mild dysplastic lesions of the oral cavity or oropharynx. Demographic features included 9 (64.3 %) females and mean age of 66.6 years. In these 14 patients, 18 distinct lesions were identified. Eleven (61.1 %) lesions were located on the oral tongue, 4 (22.2 %) on the buccal mucosa, 2 (11.1 %) on the hard palate, and 1 (5.6 %) on the soft palate. Average time from lesion clinical diagnosis to the first diode laser treatment was 8.3 months with an average number of 1.4 treatments per lesion. Three (16.7 %) lesions experienced recurrence after the most recent treatment. None of the lesions underwent malignant transformation. None of the patients experienced bleeding, tethering, or dysarthria after treatment. One patient developed pyogenic granuloma and reported chronic tongue pain.ConclusionsPulsed diode laser treatment of leukoplakia was well tolerated with low complication rates and reasonable control of precancerous lesions.