Tobacco use and its impact on survival in young patients with oral cancer

Background: Tobacco is a major risk factor associaetd with developing oral factor. Recent studies have shown that the age of onset, especially in Asia, is reducing. This study was to determine if tobacco exposure correlated with prognosis in oral squamous cell carcinoms (OSCC) based on age at diagnosis. Methods: Six hundred and forty three patients of OSCC treated in our institution were divided into four groups, younger patients (?45 years) with or without tobacco exposure and older patients (>45 years) with or without tobacco exposure, and compared with respect to prognostically relevant variables, disease?free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). Survival analysis was performed. Results: The percentage of those with tobacco exposure was comparable in both age groups. Tobacco correlated with known pathological determinants in OSCC; however, perineural invasion, lymphovascular invasion, and extranodal extension were significantly more common in the young. On survival analysis, tobacco exposure impacted OS (P = 0.04) and DFS (P = 0.03) in patients ?45 years, and not in older patients >45 years. On multivariate analysis, tobacco exposure in the young was significantly associated with recurrence (P = 0.03, hazard ratio (HR) 1.77, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.07�94) but not survival. Conclusion: Younger patients with a history of tobacco use have a significantly higher risk of recurrence and mortality due to OSCC, but this difference could not be attributed to any of the known prognostic determinants in OSCC. Younger patients also had more adverse pathological features. Whether this occurs because of altered disease biology or pathways of carcinogenesis in the young wi

Concurrent chemoradiotherapy for head and neck cancers in older patients: Outcomes and their determinants

INTRODUCTION: Meta-analyses have shown concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) provides no survival benefit over radiotherapy in patients of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) aged over 70 years. This study was performed to determine the adverse-effect profile, compliance, functional and oncological outcomes in patients of HNSCC over 70 years of age treated with CCRT. MATERIALS AND Methods: Retrospective analysis of stage III/IV HNSCC in patients above 70 years of age who received CCRT at our institution (n = 57). Cox-proportional hazards regression model was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: There were 57 patients of stage III/IV HNSCC who underwent curative CCRT. 61% completed chemotherapy with no deaths and acceptable toxicity. The predictors of recurrence were poorer performance status (P = 0.031) and treatment breaks (P = 0.04). Tube dependence was associated with 2.7 times higher risk of mortality (P = 0.005). CONCLUSION: CCRT should be considered standard of care in those over seventy with good performance status. Patients with tube dependence have a higher risk of persistent disease or treatment related mortality.

Implementing American Joint Committee on Cancer 8th edition for head-and-neck cancer in India: Context, feasibility, and practicality Highly accessed article

The American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) 8th edition marks a paradigm shift in the staging of head-and-neck cancers. It introduces several novel considerations into the staging of head-and-neck cancer, with distinct therapeutic ramifications, to stage and prognosticate patients better. In oral cancer, it introduces the depth of invasion as a determinant of T-stage. The nodal staging recommendations have also upstaged extranodal extension, which has been shown to be a high-risk adverse feature associated with worse survival. In oropharyngeal cancer, human papillomavirus (HPV) expression of tumors has been used to reclassify tumors into two separate entities, with distinct staging systems. For HPV-positive tumors, nodal staging has been divided into clinical staging and pathological staging, for better prognostication of HPV-positive diseases treated with surgery. In carcinoma of unknown primaries with cervical nodal metastasis, immunohistochemical staining of nodal tissue for HPV and Epstein–Barr virus has been recommended in all cases. These recommendations are based on a high-quality evidence aimed at personalizing cancer therapy to optimize outcomes while minimizing morbidity. The new recommendations address many of the shortcomings of the previous editions. The practice of oncology in India, however, is markedly different from that in the Western world. Majority of these recommendations are universal; however, some are likely to have hurdles in implementation in India.