Financial toxicity and mental well-being of the oral cancer survivors residing in a developing country in the era of COVID 19 pandemic - A cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVES: The primary outcome measures evaluated the financial toxicity and mental well-being of the oral cancer survivors. METHODS: A cross-sectional study of oral cancer survivors who were disease-free for more than 6 months after treatment and visited the hospital for a routine follow-up is included in the study. Mental well-being and financial toxicity were evaluated using the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale - 21 (DASS 21) and Comprehensive Score for financial Toxicity (COST- Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy) questionnaires. A literature review was done to compare the results with financial toxicity and mental health in cancer patients from the pre-pandemic era. RESULTS: A total of 79 oral cancer survivors were included in the study, predominantly males (M: F = 10:1). The age ranged from 26 to 75 years (The median age is 49). The full-time employment dropped from 83.5% in the pre-treatment period to 21.5% post-treatment. Depression was observed in 58.2% and anxiety in 72.2%. Unemployed survivors were observed to have more depression (OR = 1.3, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.3-5.4, p = 0.6), anxiety (OR = 3.5, 95% CI = 0.3-21.2, p = 0.1) and stress (OR = 1.6, 95% CI = 0.3-6.6, p = 0.5) than rest of the cohort. On univariate analysis, unemployed survivors (M = 11.8 ± 3.8, p = 0.01) had significantly poorer financial toxicity scores. Survivors with depression (M = 16.4 ± 7.1, p = 0.06) and stress (M = 14.4 ± 6.8, p = 0.002) had poor financial toxicity scores. On multifactorial analysis of variance, current employment (p = 0.04) and treatment modality (p = 0.05) were significant factors impacting the financial toxicity. CONCLUSION: There is a trend towards increased incidence of depression, anxiety, and stress among oral cancer survivors compared to the literature from the pre-COVID era. There is significant financial toxicity among either unemployed or part-time workers. This calls for urgent public/government intervention to prevent the long-term impact of financial toxicity on survival and quality of life.

Long-term swallow outcomes and factors affecting swallowing dysfunction and quality of life among oral cancer patients: a prospective observational study.

BACKGROUND: Oral cancer is one of the most common cancers among the Indian population. India bears the most burden of oral cancer globally. Impairment of swallowing function is often seen after treatment for oral cancer. The oral phase of swallowing is disrupted in patients undergoing resection for oral cancer. The primary purpose of this study was to evaluate the long-term swallowing outcomes of oral cancer patients using a patient-reported outcome questionnaire. METHODOLOGY: All consecutive oral cancer patients in the cT2-T4 category undergoing curative-intent surgery and reconstruction at our institute from March 2020 to March 2022 were included in the study. The Sydney Swallow questionnaire (SSQ) and functional oral intake scale (FOIS) assessed swallowing outcomes six months after definitive treatment. WHO BREF quality-of-life questionnaire was used to assess health-related quality of life. RESULTS: A total of seventy patients with oral cancer were included. The median age was 49 years. The majority of them were males (90%). Tumors with cT4 constituted 62%; the rest, 48%, were cT2 and cT3 categories. The bulk of them were buccoalveolar tumors (64.3%. Almost two-thirds of the patients received multimodal treatment. Trismus and xerostomia were at 46% and 88%, respectively. The mean SSQ score was 257.4 ± 99.1. Swallowing outcomes are affected by T stage (p = 0.01), extent of resection (p = 0.01), multimodality treatment (p < 0.01), trismus (p = 0.05), and xerostomia (p = 0.01). Almost 69% of them required special food preparation for swallowing (FOIS 4&5). Patients with buccoalveolar disease (p = 0.05) had significantly poor quality of life. CONCLUSION: An advanced stage with extensive resection and receiving multimodal treatment has adverse swallowing outcomes. Post-treatment trismus and xerostomia also significantly affected swallowing results.

Radiological tumor thickness as a clinical predictor of pathological depth of invasion in oral squamous cell carcinoma: a retrospective analysis.

PURPOSE: Inclusion of depth of invasion (DOI) in the recent AJCC/UICC TNM staging for oral cancer has incorporated the concept of tumor third dimension and its prognostic importance. However, there is no uniform consensus about measuring DOI at clinical setting at present. For more practical reasons, radiological tumor thickness (rTT) is a simple and practical measurement which can be used as a clinical predictor of pDOI. METHODS: We compared rTT and pathological DOI (pDOI) of 179 patients with OSCC who underwent curative surgery from April 2018 to April 2020 at AIIMS Rishikesh, India. Spearman correlation was used to determine correlation between rTT and pDOI. ROC curve was used to determine inter-group cutoff values. RESULTS: Overall, rTT showed a strong correlation with pDOI (rho = 0.74; 95% CI 0.667-0.8; p < 0.001). The inter-group cutoff value for rTT were 8 mm (Sn 89.1%; Sp 53.2%) between Group A (pDOI ≤ 5 mm) and B (pDOI > 5 mm, ≤ 10 mm), and 14 mm (Sn 89.5%; Sp 78.3%) between Group B and C (pDOI > 10 mm), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: rTT is a clinical predictor of pDOI in OSCC, and may be considered as a surrogate of DOI in the clinical setting.

Revisiting the Predictive Factors for Nodal Metastasis in Oral Cancers-a Leap Towards Personalized Patient Treatment Approach.

The incidence of oral squamous cell carcinoma is steadily increasing globally, and even with a better understanding of tumor biology and advanced treatment modalities, the survival of OSCC patients is still not improved. A single metastatic cervical node can decrease survival by 50%. Our study intends to identify the clinical, radiological, and histological factors, significant for nodal metastasis in the pretreatment setting. Ninety-three patients' data is prospectively collected and analyzed to identify the significance of various factors in predicting nodal metastasis. Clinical factors like smokeless tobacco and nodal characteristics and T category and radiological factors like the number of specific nodes were significant for pathological nodes on univariate analysis. Ankyloglossia, radiological ENE, and radiological nodal size were significant on multivariate analysis also. In the pretreatment setting, clinicopathological and radiological factors can be used to predict nodal metastasis in generating predictive nomograms and for better planning of treatment.

The Rare Horse behind the Hoarseness of Voice-Chondrosarcoma of Larynx.

Laryngeal chondrosarcomas are rare tumors. They usually clinically present late as they are slow growing tumors. We reported a case of laryngeal chondrosarcoma in a middle-aged male present with hoarseness of voice along with stridor. The tumor was located in subglottis with destruction of cricoid cartilage. The histopathological evaluation is particularly important as diagnosis and grading needs strict follow up of criteria.

Radiation-induced synchronous mandibular osteosarcoma and papillary thyroid carcinoma: A disguised conundrum.

With substantial improvement in survival in cancer patients, the risk of radiation-induced malignancy in previously irradiated areas is increasingly possible. Both radiation-induced sarcomas and papillary thyroid carcinomas (PTCs) are well documented in literature. However, radiation-induced synchronous malignancies are rare, are often misdiagnosed, and presents with diagnostic and therapeutic challenges due to paucity of literature and lack of available guidelines. Here, we report a case of radiation-induced synchronous mandibular osteosarcoma and PTC in a previously treated carcinoma of base tongue with concurrent chemoradiation. He initially presented with an oral cavity mass, and during the course of the treatment was incidentally diagnosed with a synchronous PTC. It also establishes the indolent course of PTC, which often goes undiagnosed till the presentation with regional nodal metastasis. This report, to the best of our knowledge, is the first reported case of synchronous radiation-induced OSM and PTC.

Prophylactic Glycopyrrolate Administration to Aid Otolaryngology Residents in Prevention of Post-laryngectomy Pharyngocutaneous Fistula.

Pharyngocutaneous fistula (PCF) after laryngectomy occurs when there is a failure in the pharyngeal repair resulting in a salivary leak (Dedivitis et al. in Acta Otorhinolaryngol Ital 27(1):2-5, 2007). In the post-operative period this complication is not only a challenge to the surgeon but also distressing to the patient and his family. We conducted a retrospective cum prospective study, to research the effect of starting prophylactic glycopyrrolate intravenous injection in total laryngectomy. Fifty patients underwent total laryngectomy with modified radical neck dissection over a period of 5 years by the trainee otolaryngologists. Of these 25 patients were started on glycopyrrolate for 7 post-operative days. And 25 control patients, who were not given glycopyrrolate. All the patients were observed for evidence of PCF. Of the total 50 patients, only 1 patient in study group and 12 patients in the control group developed PCF. This was statistically significant (p value 0.0039). Tumor stage, site, and gender were found to have no statistically significant correlation with development of PCF. The prophylactic administration of glycopyrrolate was found to reduce the odds of development of PCF in total laryngectomy cases. There was associated blurring of vision and constipation amongst the cases subjects, which was only transient with complete recovery on cessation of drug.

Huge Osteoclastoma of Hyoid Bone: A Case Report.

Giant cell tumors (GCT) of hyoid bone are very rare, and only few individual cases were reported in literature. We present such a case of GCT arising from left cornu of hyoid bone. The patient underwent trans-cervical complete excision of the tumour. Postoperatively, patient did well without recurrence or metastasis for 2 years follow up.

Huge ossifying fibroma maxilla.

Maxillofacial fibro-osseous lesions comprise a group of face and jaw disorders characterized by the replacement of bone by a benign connective-tissue matrix with varying amount of mineralized substances. Fibro-osseous lesions of the maxilla are not an uncommon tumor. Majority of the lesions with fibrous and osseous components include ossifying fibroma, fibrous dysplasia, cemento-ossifying fibroma, and cementifying fibroma. We present a case of 15-year-old female with huge fibroosseous lesion which was treated with total maxillectomy via a Weber-Ferguson approach. Histopathology established that fibroosseous lesion as an ossifying fibroma.