Autologous freeze-treated bone for mandibular reconstruction after malignant tumor resection: a study of 72 patients.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to assess the possibility of mandibular reconstruction with autologous freeze-treated bone after mandibular resection for malignant tumors. PATIENTS: The medical records of 72 consecutive patients surgically treated with segmental mandibular resection and reconstruction with autologous freeze-treated mandible were reviewed. RESULTS: All tumors were in stage T4a for deep infiltration of the mandible. Soft tissues were reconstructed with a direct mucosal closure (4 cases), with a pedicled pectoralis flap (17 cases), and with a forearm fasciocutaneous free flap without or with radial periosteum (18 and 33 cases). Four patients presented with a recurrence after previous surgery and radiotherapy, and 26 patients underwent postoperative radiotherapy. We resected the mental arch in 35 cases and the lateral mandible in 37 cases. Forty-one patients (56.9%) retained their autologous mandibular graft. In 31 cases, the bone graft was removed for mucosal dehiscence and bone infection. Lateral resections achieved a better success rate than anterior resections (75.7% vs 37.1%). The pedicled pectoralis flap achieved the worse success rate (35.3%) in comparison with forearm fasciocutaneous flap (66.7%). Postoperative radiotherapy decreased the success rate (40.0% vs 69.1%). CONCLUSIONS: Mandibular reconstruction with autologous frozen bone is an interesting alternative to more sophisticated methods for patients with oral cancer involving the bone. It is time and cost sparing in comparison to fibula or iliac crest flaps. However, in spite of any intraoral reconstruction, the success rate is not stirring. In our opinion, this type of mandibular reconstruction must be reserved to patients with lateral tumors, with poor prognosis, or severe comorbidities not allowing more complex bone reconstruction.

Lymph node metastases in malignant tumors of the paranasal sinuses: prognostic value and treatment.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the frequency of nodal involvement and its prognostic value in malignant tumors of the paranasal sinuses, particularly in maxillary sinus squamous cell carcinoma. DESIGN: Retrospective review. SETTING: Tertiary cancer center. PATIENTS: The medical records of 704 consecutive patients surgically treated for malignant tumors of the paranasal sinuses from January 1968 to March 2003 were reviewed. The tumors were staged according to American Joint Committee on Cancer-International Union Against Cancer 2002 classification. Only patients with clinically positive nodes underwent a neck dissection. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Lymph node metastases (at presentation or during follow-up, occurring alone, or with concurrent local recurrence and/or distant metastasis). Also analyzed were local recurrence (occurring alone or with concurrent distant metastasis), distant metastasis (occurring alone), and overall survival. RESULTS: The tumor site was the ethmoid sinus in 305 cases and maxillary sinus in 399 cases. At baseline, 5 patients (1.6%) in the ethmoid sinus group and 33 (8.3%) in the maxillary sinus group presented with positive nodes (P < .001); during follow-up, nodal recurrences (alone or simultaneous with T and/or M recurrence) occurred in 15 and 51 patients, respectively, and the corresponding 5-year incidence estimates were 4.3% and 12.5% (P = .001). The highest incidence of node metastases was found in maxillary sinus squamous cell carcinoma, particularly in T2 tumors. Five-year overall survival estimates were 45.3% for patients with N0 tumors and 0% for those with N+ (N1, N2, or N3) ethmoid sinus tumors, and 50.6% and 16.8%, respectively, for patients with maxillary sinus tumors. CONCLUSIONS: Lymph node metastases are a poor prognostic factor for patients with malignant tumors of the paranasal sinuses. The incidence of these metastases is low, particularly in ethmoid sinus tumors. A prophylactic treatment of the neck in patients with N0 tumors (surgery or radiotherapy) might be considered in T2 squamous cell carcinoma of the maxillary sinus and in undifferentiated carcinoma of the ethmoid sinus.

Dental Invasion by Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma of the Oral Cavity.

Cancer progression through the mandible bone is still questioned. Once the tumor has eroded the cortex, it can extend vertically and laterally. It usually spreads in the medullary spaces and finally affects the alveolar nerve. The presence of the teeth has been considered as a relative barrier to cancer infiltration until now. Herein, we report an uncommon case of dental root invasion by adenoid cystic carcinoma of the floor of the mouth.

Lip-splitting in transmandibular resections: is it really necessary?

Mandibular resection approach (Commando or Composite resection) is one of the fundamental techniques for oral and oropharyngeal large tumour resection. We reviewed the charts of patients who underwent a transmandibular resection for an oral and/or oropharyngeal cancer between 1980 and 2002. Of 700 patients who underwent a mandibular resection for cancer, 332 had been operated without lower lip splitting. A mono or bilateral en-block neck dissection was always performed, except in cases of relapses after a prior surgical treatment with neck dissection. We repaired 307 patients with flaps (pedicled or free flaps, with or without bone). Unsplitting of the lip never complicated resection and reconstruction. Furthermore the procedure was time sparing, as we avoided haemostasis and suture of the lip. The cosmetic results were better than those obtained by traditional technique. We used a non-lip-splitting technique also for pull-through, marginal mandibulectomy and, sometimes, for mandibular-swing approaches. In the latter case, the technique has some advantages and disadvantages and must be applied according to circumstances. We can conclude that lip-splitting in transmandibular resection for oral and oropharyngeal tumours is not necessary.

Does a multidisciplinary team approach in a tertiary referral centre impact on the initial management of head and neck cancer?

OBJECTIVES: A multi-disciplinary team (MDT) is essential in the management of cancer. Head and neck cancer (HNC) is a rare, complex and heterogeneous group of malignancies for which different treatment options are available. However, the potential impact of MDT on the management of HNC has been only poorly evaluated to date. This study evaluates the impact of MDT on the management of HNC in a tertiary centre. METHODS: We retrospectively analysed records of HNC patients referred to a MDT evaluation at the Istituto Nazionale Tumori of Milan, Italy, from May 2007 to January 2012. All cases were reviewed by a MDT consisting of a head and neck surgeon, a radiation oncologist, and a medical oncologist. RESULTS: Data from 781 HNC patients were analysed. Approximately 70% of patients were referred to our Institution for a second opinion consultation. Following MDT evaluation, new staging examinations were requested in 49% of patients, and treatment plan was modified in 10%. CONCLUSIONS: A MDT approach in a tertiary referral hospital leads to staging refinement of disease or changes in treatment plan in about 60% of patients.

Anterior craniofacial resection for malignant paranasal tumors: a monoinstitutional experience of 366 cases.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the results of a mono-institutional series of patients treated with anterior craniofacial resection for malignant paranasal sinus tumors. METHODS: We analyzed all patients with malignant paranasal sinus tumors treated with anterior craniofacial resection at our institution between 1987 and 2007. All tumors were classified according to both the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC)-2002 and the Istituto Nazionale Tumori (INT) classifications. RESULTS: The sample included 366 patients. There was intraorbital spread in 108 cases. The skull base was eroded in 127 patients, with dura or brain involvement in 93 patients. The 10-year disease-specific survival was 53.1%. Histologic subtype, INT stage, surgical margins, and postsurgical radiotherapy were significant, independent predictors for both local relapse and disease-specific survival (DSS). The AJCC-2002 classification was not significant when tested in place of INT stage. CONCLUSION: Our data indicated that craniofacial resection and postsurgical radiotherapy remain the primary option for malignant tumors involving the anterior skull base.

Intestinal type adenocarcinoma of the ethmoid sinus in wood and leather workers: a retrospective study of 153 cases.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of our study was to identify the role of work exposure to organic dusts in patients with malignant paranasal sinus tumors. METHODS: We analyzed all patients surgically treated for a malignant paranasal sinus tumor at our institution between 1987 and 2006. All patients were specifically asked about their occupational history. The tumor site was classified as maxillary or ethmoid sinus. Adenocarcinomas were divided into intestinal type (ITAC) and non-ITAC. RESULTS: The sample included 345 patients with ethmoid sinus and 301 maxillary sinus. Regarding the ethmoid sinus, we found an exposure to organic dusts in 148 of 153 patients with ITAC, in 3 of 16 patients with non-ITAC adenocarcinoma, and in 10 of 176 patients with other tumors. Regarding the maxillary sinus, we found an exposure in 1 of 20 patients with non-ITAC adenocarcinoma and in 4 of 281 patients with other histologies. CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrates that only ethmoid ITACs have an indisputable relationship with the exposure to organic dusts.

Recent advances in managing human papillomavirus-positive oropharyngeal tumors.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is detected in a subset of patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, most frequently in tumors in the Waldeyer's ring (palatine tonsil and base of tongue). Several studies suggest that patients with HPV-positive tumors have better survival with either concurrent chemoradiation therapy or surgery followed by radiation compared with HPV-negative patients. However, some possible confounding clinicopathologic variables may challenge the validity of this statement, for example, some authors used the TNM (tumor, node, metastasis) grouping stage while others used the primary tumor (T stage), and other studies have demonstrated that tumors with advanced T stage were less likely to be infected with HPV. A large clinical trial with stratification of patients according to all known tumor prognostic factors is crucial to solve the question.

Surgery for malignant maxillary tumors involving the middle cranial fossa.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the disease-free survival (DFS) of patients with maxillary malignant tumors invading the middle cranial fossa (MCF) who underwent a lateral or anterolateral skull base resection. This study was a retrospective analysis in a tertiary referral center and included 62 patients with maxillary malignant tumors invading the MCF (stage T4b) treated with surgery with or without postoperative radiotherapy. All patients had sharp pain and involvement of at least one branch of the trigeminal nerve. Twenty-eight patients had not been treated previously, and 34 had previously been treated elsewhere. The MCF dura was infiltrated and resected in 36 cases, and in nine of these, there was an intradural extension of the tumor, with temporal lobe and/or cavernous sinus invasion. Thirty-six patients underwent reconstruction with a temporalis muscle pedicled flap, and 26 patients with a free flap. There was a 22% overall rate of postoperative complications, but no intraoperative deaths. The median follow-up time was 49 months (range 2 to 186). Overall DFS was 33.9% and was higher for untreated patients (46.4% versus 23.5%) and for patients in whom clean margins were achieved (51.4% versus 12.5%). The survival time for patients who died of disease was 9 months for squamous cell carcinoma and 38 months for adenoid-cystic carcinoma. All patients experienced anesthesia in the territory of the resected trigeminal branches, but their pain vanished, and their quality of life improved. Lateral skull base surgery may achieve satisfactory oncologic results for patients with low-grade tumors, with improved quality of life for almost all patients.

Polymorphisms of Metabolizing Enzymes and Susceptibility to Ethmoid Intestinal-type Adenocarcinoma in Professionally Exposed Patients.

Intestinal-type adenocarcinoma (ITAC) of ethmoid is a rare tumor associated with occupational exposure to wood and leather dusts. Polymorphisms in xenobiotic metabolizing enzymes play an important role in gene-environment interactions and may contribute to a high degree of variance in individual susceptibility to cancer risk. The aim of this study was to investigate by polymerase chain reaction the role of polymorphisms at CYP1A1 and GSTM1 genes in 30 ethmoid ITAC patients and 79 healthy donors. The distribution of Thr/Asn genotype at CYP1A1 codon 461 was significantly overrepresented among the patients (23.3%; P = .0422), whereas the Ile/Val genotype at CYP1A1 codon 462 was not significantly different between cases and controls (P = .76). The GSTM1 null genotype was not significantly different between cases and control (P = 1), but we observed that the combined codon 461 Thr/Asn and GSTM1 null genotype was overrepresented in the patient group (P = .0019). The results reveal that patients with CYP1A1 codon 461 polymorphism may be at high genetic risk of ITAC and that the risk increases in the presence of combined polymorphism of CYP1A1 and GSTM1 null genotype. This strongly suggests that CYP1A1 codon 461 and GSTM1 null genotype may be useful in selecting exposed individuals at risk for ethmoid ITAC.

Craniofacial resection for malignant tumours involving the anterior skull base.

Ethmoid malignant tumours are rare, but nearly all at least approach or involve the lamina cribrosa. An anterior craniofacial resection is almost always mandatory for a radical resection. While almost everything has been written about technical details, few studies reported meaningful analysis about prognostic factors and long-term results, for a series of reasons: the infrequency of these tumours, the variety of histologies, small patients cohorts presented by each author, a medley of untreated and pre-treated patients, the lack of a universally accepted classification. We perform a review of the literature in the light of our experience of 330 anterior craniofacial resections for ethmoid malignant tumours. We present our classification of ethmoid malignant tumours (called INT, Istituto Nazionale Tumori). It turned out to be more prognostic than AJCC-UICC classification.

Which classification for ethmoid malignant tumors involving the anterior skull base?

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to compare three systems of classification for malignant ethmoidal tumors in patients undergoing anterior craniofacial resection. METHODS: A radiologic locoregional evaluation of 241 patients with malignant ethmoid tumors was performed before patients underwent an anterior craniofacial resection. Disease in each case was staged according to the American Joint Committee on Cancer-Union Internationale Contre le Cancer (AJCC-UICC) 1997 classification, the AJCC-UICC 2002 classification, and the Istituto Nazionale Tumori (INT) classification. Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox models were used to investigate the prognostic value of each classification system on disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). The classifications were compared in terms of prognostic discrimination capability, measured by use of an index of agreement between each classification and DFS or OS time. RESULTS: All three classification systems yielded statistically significant results in the Cox analysis, both for DFS and OS. In the AJCC-UICC 2002 system, minor differences were observed between T1 and T3 tumors. The INT classification showed a progressive worsening of the prognosis with increasing stage. The index of prognostic discrimination favored the INT classification over both the 1997 and 2002 AJCC-UICC classifications. CONCLUSIONS: Both the 1997 and 2002 AJCC-UICC classifications seemed to have limited prognostic value. By contrast, the INT classification satisfied one of the main goals of tumor staging, demonstrating the progressive worsening of prognosis with different tumor classes.