Findings from a Malaysian multicentre study on oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: In addition to the conventional aetiologic agents of oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) such as tobacco usage, alcohol consumption and betel quid usage, it has been established that a proportion of OPSCC are driven by persistent oncogenic human papillomavirus (HPV) infections. Currently, there is a lack of data on the burden of HPV- associated OPSCC in Asian countries including Malaysia. METHODS: A cross-sectional multicentre study with tissue analysis of Malaysian patients diagnosed with primary OPSCC within a five-year period, from 2015 to 2019 between 01/01/2015 to 31/12/2019 was undertaken. Determination of HPV status was carried out using p16INK4a immunohistochemistry on tissue microarrays constructed from archived formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue. RESULTS: From the cases identified, 184 cases had sufficient tissue material for analysis. Overall, median age at diagnosis was 63.0 years (IQR = 15) and 76.1% of patients were males. In our cohort, 35.3% of patients were Indian, 34.2% were Chinese, 21.2% were Malay and 9.2% were from other ethnicities. The estimated prevalence of HPV-associated OPSCC in our cohort was 31.0% (CI 24.4-38.2%). The median age for the HPV-associated OPSCC sub-group of patients was not significantly lower than the median age of patients with HPV-independent OPSCC. More than half of HPV-associated OPSCC was seen in patients of Chinese ethnicity (54.4%). Patients with HPV-associated OPSCC had a much better overall survival than patients with HPV-independent OPSCC (Log rank test; p < 0.001). Patients with HPV-associated OPSCC with no habit-related risk factors such as smoking, were found to have much better overall survival when compared to all other sub-groups. CONCLUSIONS: The findings from our study suggests that prevalence of HPV-associated OPSCC in Malaysia, though not as high as some developed countries, is however on an upward trend. HPV-associated OPSCC appears to be more frequently encountered in patients of Chinese ethnicity. Conventional risk-factors associated with OPSCC such as smoking, alcohol consumption and betel quid chewing should still be considered when estimating prognosis of patients with HPV-associated OPSCC.

Multicentric Castleman Disease of the Supraglottis: A Surgeons' Dilemma.

Introduction: An abnormal mass in the head and neck involving the supraglottic and cervical region offers a wide range of differential diagnoses. The pathology is either benign or malignant in nature. Castleman disease (CD) is an uncommon lymphoproliferative disorder characterised by hypervascular lymphoid hyperplasia and is classified into unicentric or multicentric disease. Histopathologically it is divided into hyaline vascular (HV), plasma cell (PC), and mixed cellularity variants. The multicentric disease is linked with PC and has the propensity to progress to lymphoma or Kaposi Sarcoma. Case Report: We report a case of a 45-year-old gentleman who presented with a painless anterior neck swelling and left supraglottic mass for six months. Computed tomography (CT) contrast imaging demonstrated a homogenous enhancing lesion at the left supraglottic and the midline of the anterior neck with erosive changes of the thyroid cartilage. A surgical resection of the anterior neck mass was performed. The diagnosis of Castleman disease plasma cell variant was made by histopathologic evaluation. The patient remained well post-resection. Conclusion: Supraglottic multicentric Castleman disease is the least expected diagnosis in this case. Unicentric disease is treated with surgery. However, limited studies are available in determining the effectiveness of surgery in multicentric diseases. The plasma cell variant requires a multidisciplinary and multimodal approach due to an inclination towards malignancy. Research is needed to determine the role of surgery in multicentric disease and to develop optimum guidelines for managing cases. To date, there is unsubstantial literature describing supraglottic multicentric disease.

A case report of Extranodal natural killer / T-cell lymphoma presenting as extensive myiasis.

We described a 56-year-old Indonesian man with one-month history of nasal obstruction and rapidly increasing nasal swelling and two weeks history of severe facial pain with foul smelling discharge, bleeding and noticing live maggots emerging from his nasal and oral cavity. On examination, he appeared cachexic with a markedly swollen, erythematous and deformed external nose. Live maggots, pus and necrotic tissues were found in both nasal cavities, with erosion of upper gingiva and hard palate. Patient was managed initially with tracheostomy under local anaesthesia, followed by removal of around 350 live maggots from the nasal cavities and debridement of necrotic tissues. A midline nasal cavity mass which extended laterally into the nasal cavity was found, along with a large defect over the gingival labial sulcus with necrotic hard palate and a communication between oral and nasal cavities. Biopsies were taken from the nasal mass, gingiva and hard palate. Histopathological results from the biopsies showed diffuse, aggressive infiltrative malignant lymphoid cells with widespread angionecrosis, consistent with features of extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma. To our knowledge, there is only one other reported case where the diagnosis of ENKTCL was made after patient presented with oro-nasal myiasis. Clinicians should have raised awareness on this atypical presentation so that further investigation and management can be implemented promptly.

Tuberculous cervical lymphadenitis in a patient with suspected neck recurrence.

The significance of metastastic disease in the cervical lymph nodes has long been appreciated. The rich lymphatics of the upper aerodigestive tract explained the high incidence of cervical metastasis, occasional bilaterally spread. Even with appropriate treatment, cervical recurrences do occur. Nonetheless, with the resurgence of tuberculosis, the differential of tuberculous cervical lymphadenitis should be excluded. Appropriate modalities should be employed in making the appropriate diagnosis possible.