Are contralateral submental artery perforator flaps feasible for the reconstruction of postoperative defects of oral cancer?

BACKGROUND: We evaluated the clinical applications of the reconstruction of postoperative defects of the oral cavity using contralateral submental artery flaps. METHODS: A retrospective study of 18 patients with postoperative intraoral cancer defects reconstructed with contralateral submental artery perforator flaps between October 2018 and October 2019 in our department was conducted. The defect area, flap size, and complications were evaluated. RESULTS: All patients were diagnosed based on pathological examinations: 2 with adenoid cystic carcinoma and 16 with squamous cell carcinoma. The submental artery perforator flap used for simultaneous repair was 8 to 15 cm in length and 4 to 6.5 cm in width. The survival rate of flap reconstruction was 100% with no donor site complications. CONCLUSIONS: Contralateral submental artery flap reconstruction is a suitable alternative for moderate to large intraoral defects, postoperative mouth floor defects, and oral cavity composite defects of oral malignant tumors without contralateral lymph node metastases.

PKCα take part in CCR7/NF-κB autocrine signaling loop in CCR7-positive squamous cell carcinoma of head and neck.

Metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of head and neck (SCCHN) has been shown to express chemokine receptor 7 (CCR7). The role of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) in propagating an autocrine signaling loop in CCR7-positive SCCHN cells may provide a clinically useful biomarker of disease status and response to therapy. In this article, we hypothesized that PKCα might be involved in the CCR7/NF-κB autocrine signaling loop. Results showed that CCL19 induced the activation of PKCα, and the increased activity of PKCα was abolished by CCR7 mAb. PKCα inhibition with Gö6976 led to significant reduction in the activation and nuclear translocation of NF-κB induced by CCL19. Immunohistochemical assay also showed that CCR7 and PKCα were highly expressed in SCCHN and correlated with each other, which was significantly related to lymph node metastasis and clinical stage. Taken together, PKCα is involved in the CCR7/NF-κB autocrine signaling loop.