The psychosocial needs of head and neck cancer patients: a multicenter study.

INTRODUCTION: Cancer is among the most frequent pathologies and a major cause of death and disability. Scientific research and surgeons focus mainly on aspects relating to etiopathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment, but often neglect the psychological needs of patients and related social factors. The aim of this study is to investigate the psychological and social needs of patients affected by head and neck cancer to improve patient management and achieve more empathetic care. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The Need Evaluation Questionnaire (NEQ) was administered to adult patients who had to undergo surgery in 4 Italian tertiary head and neck cancer centers the day before the operation. RESULTS: 188 patients affected by stage I-IV head and neck tumors were enrolled. The main needs expressed by patients fall under the categories of either "information and dialogue", (64.3% more information about future conditions, 50% more information about treatments, 45% more information about the diagnosis, 44% more reassurance) or "spiritual support" (50% need to talk to someone who had the same experience as them). CONCLUSIONS: Common methods of explaining diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis have proven unsatisfactory to patients and most also require more psychosocial support. This highlights the need to implement interventions and activities that are increasingly geared toward supporting the psychological and relational aspects of the care journey.

The Evolution of Foreign Bodies Management in a Case of Near-fatal Penetrating Neck Injury.

Penetrating wounds of the neck with foreign bodies retention are frequent and often life-threatening events, and their management has changed in recent years from an open approach to a conservative approach thanks to the possibility of performing minimally invasive radiologically guided surgery. We present a case of penetrating glass injury to zone III of the neck in which the foreign body go through the parotid region passing near, but without injuring, the facial nerve and the external and internal carotid arteries.

The ability of the eighth edition of the TNM staging system plus minor invasion criteria to predict the biological behaviour of oral cavity carcinomas.

BACKGROUND: Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) treatment is based largely on the TNM stage. The eighth edition includes important new prognostic parameters (extranodal extension and depth of invasion), while it does not consider tumour molecular characteristics or minor invasion criteria (perineural and lymphovascular invasion, grading and resection margins). This study evaluated how well the TNM eighth edition predicts the biological behaviour of OSCC, considering survival and risk of locoregional recurrence. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data from 217 patients treated for OSCC were analysed, including epidemiologic characteristics, histological features and treatment. RESULTS: No significant correlations with overall survival or tumour recurrence were found for pT stages and the type of treatment, while different pN stages had significant differences in recurrence, but not in overall survival. We found significant correlations between overall survival and tumour grade and lymphovascular and perineural invasion and a significant correlation between tumour resection margins and the risk of recurrence. CONCLUSIONS: The current TNM staging system is a necessary but not sufficient tool for predicting the overall survival and risk of recurrence of OSCC. It could be improved by considering other factors, such as minor invasion criteria and biological markers.