Discrepancy between cTNM and pTNM staging of oral cavity cancers and its prognostic significance.

INTRODUCTION: Accurate tumor-node-metastasis(TNM) staging of oral cavity cancer(OCC) is very important in the management of this dismal disease. However, stage migration from cTNM to pTNM was found in a portion of OCC patients. The objective of this study was to determine the possible causes of discrepancy between cTNM and pTNM in OCC and the clinical impacts of stage migration. METHODS: Clinical and pathological data of 252 OCC patients were retrospectively reviewed and compared each other. Clinical staging was determined through the multidisciplinary evaluation of pre-treatment work-ups including PET/CT. In addition, we compared the up-staged cases with those in the no-change group with the same pTNM stages to identify the clinical impacts of such change. RESULTS: Clinical staging yielded overall 82.5% diagnostic accuracy in predicting pathological tumor status, and tumor extent was under-estimated in 9.5-13.5% of cases. The main causes of T up-staging were under-estimation of surface dimension (62.5%) and deep invasion to tongue extrinsic muscles (37.5%). N up-staging was due to occult single (57.6%) and multiple (42.4%) metastases. Surprisingly, TNM up-staging in our series did not have prognostic significance under the current management protocol. CONCLUSION: Clinical under-estimation of pathological tumor extent occurred in approximately 13% of OCC, without clinical impacts on prognosis.

Histological features of differentiated dysplasia in the oral mucosa: a review of oral invasive squamous cell carcinoma cases diagnosed with benign or low-grade dysplasia on previous biopsies.

The diagnosis of oral squamous cell carcinoma is sometimes delayed. Recently, the concept of differentiated dysplasia in the oral mucosa was proposed, and we attempted to elucidate the histologic features of differentiated dysplasia in the oral mucosa. Two pathologists reviewed 38 small biopsy cases of patients diagnosed with benign to low-grade dysplasia in the first biopsy, but were diagnosed with invasive carcinoma after excisional biopsy within 2 years. Of these, 29 cases were suspected of having differentiated dysplasia, which histologically showed "abnormal variation in nuclear size and shape," "increased number and size of nucleoli," and "loss of polarity of basal cells." In addition to the features observed in classic dysplasia, "premature keratinization in single cells" and "loss of epithelial cell cohesion" were characteristically observed. These 2 findings were often observed only in the lower half of the epithelium, but not in the full layer of the epithelium. Histological findings of oral differentiated dysplasia were very similar to those of differentiated vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia. "Premature keratinization in single cells" and "loss of epithelial cell cohesion" are specific pathological findings of oral differentiated dysplasia. Oral differentiated dysplasia is considered as a part of the broad spectrum of oral dysplasia that exhibits morphological characteristics different from classic dysplasia rather than being a separate entity. The diagnosis of oral differentiated dysplasia is expected to reduce the delayed diagnosis and improve the prognosis and post-treatment quality of life of patients with oral cavity cancer.

Prognostic Value of the Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio before and after Radiotherapy for Anaplastic Thyroid Carcinoma.

The neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is a marker of systemic inflammation, and its elevation has recently been associated with poor survival in many solid cancers. Leukocyte elevation and lymphocyte reduction are associated with a poor response to radiotherapy (RT). This study aimed to assess the prognostic value of NLR before and after RT for anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC). This retrospective study analyzed 40 patients with ATC who received RT with available complete blood cell count data from November 1995 through May 2020 at Samsung Medical Center (Seoul, Korea). Patients were classified into two groups according to the NLR before and after RT. The median overall survival (OS) was 8.9 months (range, 3.5-18.2) in the low NLR group (<3.47) and 5.2 months (range, 2.7-7.5) months in the high NLR group (≥3.47). The association between NLR and OS was also observed in multivariable Cox regression analysis (hazard ratio, 3.18; 95% confidence interval, 1.15-8.85; p = 0.026). The OS curves differed significantly according to post-RT NLR (p = 0.036). A high NLR before and after RT may be significantly associated with poor OS in patients with ATC who receive RT.

Can [18F]-fluorodeoxyglucose standardized uptake values of PET imaging predict pathologic extrathyroid invasion of thyroid papillary microcarcinomas?

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the hypothesis that the [F]-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) standardized uptake values (SUVs) of positron emission tomographic (PET) imaging can predict pathologic extrathyroid invasion of thyroid papillary microcarcinomas (TPMC) DESIGN: Prospective clinical study. METHOD: From 2004 to 2005, 44 consecutive patients with TPMC (< or =1 cm), confirmed by ultrasonography and aspiration cytology, had FDG PET scans performed. Among them, 66 tumor foci in 41 patients were confirmed to be of less than 1 cm in diameter by the final surgical pathology report. According to the microcarcinoma tumor focus, prediction of pathologic extrathyroid invasion, by clinical variables including sonographic findings and SUVs from PET imaging, was evaluated by the univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: : Univariate analysis showed that the tumor site attached to the thyroid capsule and the SUVs of PET imaging could predict pathologic extrathyroid invasion. However, the tumor site attached to thyroid capsule and an age older than 45 were significant predictors by multivariate analysis (P = .001 and P = .036). SUVs from PET imaging were only correlated with the size of tumor (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The SUVs from FDG PET imaging alone cannot predict the pathologic extrathyroid invasion in patients with TPMC. However, the ultrasonographic findings, such as tumor site, provide better information about the extrathyroid invasion of TPMC tumor foci.