Neck dissection for unknown cancer of the head and neck in the era of chemoradiation

Purpose

To report outcomes for patients with cervical lymph node metastases from an unknown primary site of the head and neck treated with either non-operative therapy or neck dissection followed by adjuvant therapy.

Positron emission tomography scan to determine the need for neck dissection after chemoradiation for head and neck cancer: timing is everything

We present a case of a negative positron emission tomography (PET) scan in a patient with pathologic viable cancer at neck dissection. STUDY DESIGN: Case Report. METHODS: A 69-year-old man presented with clinical stage T2N2c squamous cell cancer of the left tonsil and was treated with definitive chemoradiation. Left-sided adenopathy decreased but remained palpable after therapy. RESULTS: PET scan performed 23 days after completion of treatment showed no suspicious uptake in the left neck. Neck dissection performed at 2 months post-therapy revealed viable tumor in left cervical nodes. CONCLUSIONS: Persistent adenopathy after chemoradiation for head and neck cancer remains a clinical dilemma. A negative PET scan is accurate but only if the scan is performed 3 to 4 months after therapy.     

Simultaneous chemoradiation in the treatment of advanced head and neck cancer.

Fifty-eight patients with either advanced or unresectable squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck were randomly selected to receive either twice daily radiation alone or twice daily radiation plus concomitant chemotherapy with cisplatin and fluorouracil (5-fluorouracil). There was no advantage in survival or time to progression with the addition of chemotherapy to twice daily radiation for patients with advanced resectable cancers. In the group of patients with unresectable cancers, however, there was a statistically significant advantage to the addition of chemotherapy, both in terms of disease-free survival and date to progression.     

Planned neck dissection after concomitant radiochemotherapy for advanced head and neck cancer

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: Since 1998, at our academic, multidisciplinary head and neck cancer treatment center, it has been our policy to treat appropriate patients with locoregionally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) with concomitant radiochemotherapy followed within 6 weeks by planned neck dissection(s). Our objective was to investigate the oncologic efficacy of planned neck dissection, to date, in this patient population with a focus on outcomes in the neck. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective analysis of a cumulative patient database. METHODS: The medical records of all patients who underwent planned neck dissection(s) after concomitant radiochemotherapy for locoregionally advanced SCCHN at Beth Israel Medical Center and The Institute for Head and Neck Cancer in New York City were reviewed. For each patient, preradiochemotherapy primary and neck stage, postradiochemotherapy/preneck dissection clinical and radiographic neck status, type of neck dissection(s) performed, pathologic status of the neck dissection specimen(s), length of follow-up (after planned neck dissection), disease status at last follow-up, and site(s) of recurrence were recorded. Local, regional, and distant disease control rates were calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method. RESULTS: Fifty-one planned neck dissections were performed on 39 radiochemotherapy patients (12 patients had bilateral operations) between early 1998 and October, 2003. Thirty-two (82%) patients had N2 or greater neck disease, with 29 (74%) having T3/T4 disease at various upper aerodigestive tract primary sites. Patients received an average of 6,700 cGy and 6,000 cGy external beam radiation therapy to primary disease sites and involved cervical lymphatics respectively, concomitant with one of three platinum-based chemotherapy schedules. At a mean follow-up time of 24 (range 8-57) months for the entire study population, there has been only one neck recurrence (N2A neck). No patient with N2B (n = 11), N2C (n = 13, with majority of heminecks staged N2B), or N3 (n = 5) disease has recurred in the neck. No recurrences have occurred in the 41 heminecks (in 33 patients) where modified neck dissection (including 24 selective procedures) was performed despite the presence of residual carcinoma in 13 (32%) of these heminecks on pathologic review. Among all heminecks with residual carcinoma present (n = 18) in the neck dissection specimen, there has been only one neck recurrence. There have been no recurrences in the 26 heminecks (in 19 patients) with incomplete clinical response after radiochemotherapy despite the presence of residual carcinoma in 14 (54%) of these necks on pathologic review. The clinical and radiographic absence of residual disease after radiochemotherapy did not always predict a complete pathologic response. Surgical complications have been limited (1 chyle leak, 1 wound breakdown). CONCLUSIONS: The integration of planned neck dissection into the multidisciplinary management of patients with locoregionally advanced SCCHN is highly effective in controlling cervical metastatic disease. Modified and selective neck dissection procedures can be performed in the majority of patients, regardless of the response in the neck subsequent to concomitant radiochemotherapy. We recommend a planned neck dissection(s) in all patients staged (pretreatment) with N2 or greater neck disease and in select N1 cases.     

Efficacy of targeted chemoradiation and planned selective neck dissection to control bulky nodal disease in advanced head and neck cancer.

PURPOSE: To determine the efficacy of targeted chemoradiation with the radiation plus platinum (RADPLAT) protocol and planned selective neck dissection in patients with N2 to N3 nodal disease associated with upper aerodigestive tract carcinoma. METHODS: Analysis of 52 patients with N2a, N2b, or N3 disease involving 60 heminecks treated with intraarterial cisplatin, 150 mg/m2, and intravenous sodium thiosulfate, 9 g/m2, on days 1, 8, 15, and 22; radiation therapy, 180 to 200 cGy per fraction for 35 fractions (total dose, 68-74 Gy); and planned neck dissection (33 of 35 procedures were selective). RESULTS: Of the 56 evaluable heminecks, a clinical complete response was achieved in 33 (59%). Within this group, 16 neck dissections were performed, none of which yielded disease on pathological examination. A clinical partial response was obtained in 21 heminecks, of which 18 subsequently had a neck dissection, yielding disease on pathological examination in 14. In all cases, it was possible to completely excise all adenopathy with clear margins on pathological examination. The rate of regional disease control among the 56 evaluable heminecks was 91% (51/56) (median follow-up, 36 months). Four failures were associated with uncontrolled disease at other sites, and 1 was an isolated neck recurrence. CONCLUSION: Selective neck dissection appears to be an effective adjunct to targeted chemoradiation in controlling N2 to N3 neck disease.     

Deferring planned neck dissection following chemoradiation for stage IV head and neck cancer: the utility of PET-CT

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether combined positron emission tomography and computed tomography (PET-CT) may be of value in deferring planned neck dissections for patients with advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). STUDY DESIGN: Observational study of patients with de novo cervical > or =N2 regional spread of HNSCC in a tertiary care academic medical center. METHODS: Forty-three patients were identified who underwent post-treatment PET-CT within 6 months of completing neoadjuvant chemotherapy combined with radiation therapy (CRT). The PET-CT was "positive" if the radiologist recommended tissue sampling or resection of cervical lymph nodes, or if there was progressive neck disease in the setting of distant metastatic disease. Patients who had positive PET-CT underwent confirmatory biopsy given clinical suspicion for regional cervical metastasis without distant disease. Patients with negative PET-CT were followed clinically and radiographically for a minimum of 5 months (median 18.1 months) after CRT. RESULTS: Ten (22%) of the 43 post-treatment PET-CT studies were positive. Seven of the 10 PET-CT scans (70% of positives) were true-positive given histologically-confirmed residual viable tumor or progressive disease including disease in the neck. The 3 remaining studies (30% of positives) were false-positive PET-CT results, given resolution of fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) avidity on subsequent imaging or tissue sampling demonstrating absence of viable tumor cells. Of the 33 patients with negative PET-CTs in the neck, 1 patient had absence of FDG-avidity in the setting of malignant disease in the neck (3% false negatives); otherwise, patients with an initially negative PET-CT scan had no recurrences during the study (97% true negatives). This corresponds to a sensitivity of 87.5% (7/8), a specificity of 91% (32/35), a positive predictive value of 70% (7/10), a negative predictive value of 97% (32/33), and accuracy of 91% (39/43) for PET-CT scans in the detection of cervical metastatic disease after CRT. Overall, 37 (86%) of 43 patients were spared neck dissection using this technology without evidence of recurrent disease in the neck at extended follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that planned neck dissection after CRT for HNSCC may be deferred in favor of serial PET-CT imaging, and that sampling of areas of suspicious FDG-avid uptake can be rationally considered prior to therapeutic neck dissection. These data also suggest that negative PET-CT scans are highly reliable for the absence of residual cervical nodal disease.     

Absence of planned neck dissection for the N2-N3 neck after chemoradiation for locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck

OBJECTIVE: To review our institutional experience of patients with locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) and N2-N3 neck disease with respect to neck recurrence after chemoradiation without planned neck dissection (ND). DESIGN: Retrospective study. SETTING: Tom Baker Cancer Centre, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. PATIENTS: Fifty-four adults with locally advanced SCCHN and N2-N3 neck disease. INTERVENTIONS: Eighty consecutive patients were treated with chemoradiation, 70 Gy given as 2 Gy daily for 7 weeks, with cisplatin, 20 mg/m(2), given on the first 4 days of weeks 1 and 5. Of the 80 patients, 54 were evaluable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Primary outcomes were overall survival and absence or presence of neck disease after chemoradiation. Secondary outcomes included disease-specific survival and locoregional recurrence-free survival. RESULTS: Median follow-up of living patients was 35 months. Patients with a complete response (CR) did not have any planned ND. Factors associated with the absence of recurrent neck disease included CR (P < .001), younger age (P = .02), and better Karnofsky Performance Status (P = .049). In patients achieving CR, 2-year overall, disease-specific, and locoregional recurrence-free survival was 92%, 95%, and 95%, respectively. Three of the 43 patients (7%) with N2 lesions obtaining CR subsequently experienced a neck recurrence at a median of 15 months (range, 7-24 months). CONCLUSIONS: In these patients with locally advanced SCCHN and N2-N3 neck disease treated with chemoradiation and achieving CR, only a few patients with N2 neck disease experienced recurrence despite the absence of planned ND. Prospective trials are needed to identify patients with N2 neck disease who may still benefit from planned ND after chemoradiation. There were not enough patients with N3 neck disease to make any recommendations.     

Voice and speech outcomes of chemoradiation for advanced head and neck cancer: a systematic review

Purpose of this review is to systematically assess the effects on voice and speech of advanced head and neck cancer and its treatment by means of chemoradiotherapy (CRT). The databases Medline, Embase and Cochrane were searched (1991–2009) for terms head and neck cancer, chemoradiation, voice and speech rehabilitation. Twenty articles met the inclusion criteria, whereof 14 reported on voice outcomes and 10 on speech. Within the selected 20 studies, 18 different tools were used for speech or voice evaluation. Most studies assessed their data by means of patient questionnaires. Four studies presented outcome measures in more than one dimension. Most studies summarised the outcomes of posttreatment data that were assessed at various points in time after treatment. Except for four studies, pre-treatment measurements were lacking. This and the fact that most studies combined the outcomes of patients with radiated laryngeal cancers with outcome data of non-laryngeal cancer patients impedes an interpretation in terms of the effects of radiation versus the effects of the disease itself on voice or speech. Overall, the studies indicated that voice and speech degenerated during CRT, improved again 1–2 months after treatment and exceeded pre-treatment levels after 1 year or longer. However, voice and speech measures do not show normal values before or after treatment. Given the large-ranged posttreatment data, missing baseline assessment and the lacking separation of tumour/radiation sites, there is an urgent need for structured standardised multi-dimensional speech and voice assessment protocols in patients with advanced head and neck cancer treated with CRT.     

Effectiveness of superselective and selective neck dissection for advanced nodal metastases after chemoradiation

OBJECTIVE: To determine the efficacy of selective and superselective neck dissection for patients with bulky or residual nodal metastasis treated with concomitant intra-arterial cisplatin and radiotherapy. DESIGN: Prospective study. SETTING: University of Tennessee, Memphis. PATIENTS: A total of 240 patients with stage III or IV head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. INTERVENTIONS: Treatment with cisplatin, 150 mg/m2 intra-arterially, and sodium thiosulfate, 9 g/m2 intravenously, weekly for 4 weeks; and radiotherapy, 2 Gy per fraction per day, 5 times weekly, for a total of 68 to 74 Gy over 6 to 7 weeks. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Regional control, distant metastases, and overall survival for patients undergoing radical or modified radical neck dissection (n = 12), selective neck dissection (n = 65), and superselective neck dissection (levels II-III only) (n = 7). RESULTS: Among the total group of 240 patients, 106 neck dissections were performed on 84 patients who had bulky nodal disease. With a median follow-up of 58 months (range, 12-96 months), regional failure occurred in 11 (4.6%) of 240 patients: 2 (17%) of the 12 who had modified radical neck dissection, 3 (5%) of the 65 who had selective neck dissection, none of the 7 patients who had superselective neck dissection, and 6 (4%) of the 156 who had no neck dissection. The rates of overall survival and distant metastases were not significantly different among the 3 neck dissection subsets. CONCLUSION: Selective and superselective neck dissection, which spare function and minimize morbidity, are viable therapeutic alternatives for patients with residual disease confined to 1 level after intra-arterial chemoradiation treatment, and possibly for other chemoradiation protocols.     

Planned postradiotherapy bilateral neck dissection for head and neck cancer

Purpose: This is a retrospective analysis of 50 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck treated with radiotherapy (RT) to the primary site and bilateral neck followed by a planned bilateral neck dissection approximately 4 to 6 weeks after completion of RT.Patients and Methods: Between November 1964 and March 1997, 50 patients underwent bilateral neck dissections after RT, with minimum 2-year follow-up. Forty-eight patients had bilateral positive neck nodes.Results: At 5 years, the rates of neck disease control, local-regional control, and cause-specific survival were 76%, 70%, and 39%, respectively. Five severe complications developed after surgery, and 1 developed after RT.Conclusions: Radiotherapy followed by a planned bilateral neck dissection resulted in a high rate of local-regional control with acceptable morbidity. The likelihood of severe complications after simultaneous (as opposed to staged) neck dissection was not significantly different (P = .24). (Am J Otolaryngol 2001;22:383-386.     

Mediastinal dissection in head and neck cancer

The superior mediastinum contains a considerable number of lymph nodes. Although occasionally involved in head and neck cancer, there are not many reports of mediastinal dissection in the practice of head and neck surgery. We present a group of seven patients with head and neck tumours that underwent mediastinal dissection in our department. Three patients are alive and free of disease six months to three years after the operation, two are alive with disease four and five years after the procedure, and two patients died peri-operatively. According to reviewed current literature, direct invasion of cancer of the head and neck to the mediastinum or mediastinal lymph node involvement is uncommon. Yet, mediastinal dissection provides the only chance for cure in selected cases.     

Unintended benefits of immunosupression on autoimmune disease due to chemoradiation therapy for head and neck cancer

The immune system is an important factor in the host's defenses against cancer. Immunosupression by radiation and/or chemotherapy is often associated with systemic and hematologic complications, opportunistic infections, and the development of malignancies, but immunosupression can also have beneficial effects, which are sometimes incidental. We report 2 patients with autoimmune diseases where immunosupression had beneficial effects. The first case is about a patient with carcinoma of the tonsil, with severe rheumatoid arthritis, who was treated with chemoradiation, which resulted in remission of his arthritis. The second case is about a patient with severe atopic eczema who was on long-term treatment with psoralen and ultraviolet A radiation and azathioprine; the patient developed metastatic carcinoma of the lip, which was treated with surgery and radiation that resulted in complete remission of his eczema.     

Transoral robotic surgery for oropharyngeal cancer in the era of chemoradiation therapy

Over time, the primary treatment modality of oropharyngeal squamous cell cancers (OPSCC) is intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), eventually associated with chemotherapy (CHT). This treatment modality is preferred for reduced impact on the quality of life rather than aggressive open surgical approaches. The advent of TransOral Robotic Surgery (TORS) has rediscovered the role of surgery in the treatment of OPSCC. Although the primary chemoradiation therapy (CRT) and transoral robotic surgery (TORS) are competing for similar oncologic results, CRT may result in significant functional complaints such as severe dysphagia and feeding tube dependence and, on the other hand, TORS might result in surgical defects depending on the size of the resection and anatomic location. Nevertheless, TORS may intercept the locoregionally advanced population through pathologic downstaging as well as the potential for improvement in oncologic outcomes. The available reconstructive options allow an expanding role of this minimally invasive surgery, even in locally advanced tumours. Finally, the surgical management of OPSCC with TORS identifies areas of opportunity in shortening the overall treatment package time compared to traditional surgery.     

Audiometric patterns in ototoxicity of intra-arterial Cisplatin chemoradiation in patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer

This study describes audiometric patterns of ototoxicity in a consecutive series of patients uniformly treated with intra-arterial high-dose cisplatin chemoirradiation for advanced cancer of the head and neck. Air conduction thresholds were measured from 0.125 to 16 kHz and bone conduction thresholds were measured from 0.5 to 4 kHz. The overall audiometric pattern was characterized by maximum threshold shifts after the 2nd cisplatin infusion and a maximum total threshold shift at 8 kHz, irrespective of gender, age, pretreatment sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) or subjective complaints during therapy. A hearing deterioration gradient was observed from (ultra-) high to low frequencies, worse with increasing pre-existent SNHL and with increasing cumulative dose of cisplatin chemoradiation. Cisplatin chemoradiation-induced hearing loss seemed to reach a plateau at higher levels (75-80 dB HL) for frequencies above 8 kHz compared to frequencies up to 8 kHz (45-60 dB HL). Recovery of SNHL was found after therapy in 27 ears characterized by extensive hearing loss at frequencies 1, 2 and 4 kHz.