Clinicopathological features of head and neck cutaneous basal cell carcinoma observed at the Centro Hospitalar de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro ENT Department.

Background: Cutaneous basal cell carcinoma (cBCC) incidence has been increasing, but there are no available data on its epidemiological, clinical, and pathological patterns in Northeast Portugal. cBCC is mainly located in the head and neck, where the ear, neck, and throat (ENT) surgeon may have a major role. We aimed to verify the clinicopathological characteristics of basal cell carcinomas diagnosed in an ENT department. Methods: We performed a retrospective clinicopathological evaluation of the head and neck cBCC cases followed up at the Centro Hospitalar de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro (CHTMAD) ENT Department between January 2007 and April 2021. Results: One hundred seventy-four patients with 293 cBCCs were included in this retrospective study. We observed that about one-third of the patients had multiple cBCCs (30.5%) and an infiltrative-type growth pattern (39.3%), both features considered as patterns that are more aggressive. Infiltrative-type growth pattern cBCCs were significantly larger when compared with the indolent-type growth pattern (16.2 mm vs 10.8 mm). Conclusions: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study about cBCC in a patient population followed up at an ENT hospital department. This study has shown that these patients had cBCCs with more aggressive features, making these tumors an important issue for the ENT surgeon.

TERTp mutations and p53 expression in head and neck cutaneous basal cell carcinomas with different aggressive features.

Cutaneous basal cell carcinoma (cBCC) is an economic burden to health services, due to its great morbidity and increasing incidence in old people. Infiltrative cBCCs and cBCCs with micronodular pattern are considered as more aggressive. The role of p53 expression and TERTp mutation on cBCC behavior remains to be clarified. We aimed to assess TERTp mutations and p53 expression in relation to the cBCC histological subtype in a cohort of patients referred to an ENT Department of a tertiary Hospital of Northern Portugal. We performed a retrospective clinicopathological and histological review of the head and neck cBCCs followed-up at the otorhinolaryngology department of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro hospital (January 2007-June 2018). We assessed TERTp mutations in 142 cBCCs and p53 protein expression, through immunohistochemistry, in 157 cBCCs. We detected TERTp mutations in 43.7% of cBCCs and p53 overexpression in 60.5% of cBCCs. We spotted association of p53 overexpression and TERTp mutation with necrosis. In the infitrative-growth pattern cBCCs, there was no significant association with the clinical and histological features evaluated, except for necrosis. In the indolent-growth cBCCs, we identified a significant association of TERTp mutation status with female sex, necrosis, multiple cBCCs, and p53 positive expression. Our results suggest that TERTp mutation may be useful to identify more aggressive features in the indolent-growth pattern cBCCs (nodular and superficial subtypes). Further studies with larger cohorts are warranted to clarify the relevance of TERTp mutation in cBCCs.

Adenocarcinoma of the jejunum: management of a rare small bowel neoplasm.

Small bowel adenocarcinomas are rare malignant tumors that account for less than 2% of gastrointestinal tumors. Despite a thorough history, physical examination and complete diagnostic workup, the correct diagnosis of small intestinal neoplasm has been established preoperatively in only 50% of cases. Due to the rarity of this disease, there are very few established guidelines for its management and it has been primarily treated the same way as colorectal cancer, even though patient's prognostic outcome is worse. With new guidelines in 2020, we review a clinical case of a 64-year-old male patient with adenocarcinoma of the jejunum treated in our institution.

MOHS micrographic surgery for head and neck nonmelanoma skin cancer: An approach for ENT surgeons.

Surgery is the main approach for skin cancer, with Mohs micrographic surgery (MMS) allowing the highest cure rates, best esthetics and superior functional outcomes. Ear, nose, and throat (ENT) surgeons are often challenged with patients presenting skin cancer, needing appropriate expertise to its adequate management. This paper highlights the most important aspects of MMS, enabling ENT surgeons to become familiar with its fundamental aspects. A review of the literature was performed, concomitantly presenting the author's outcomes as an ENT surgeon. A total of 51 MMSs were performed in 41 patients, and 78.4% of the tumors were cutaneous basal cell carcinomas (cBCCs), 19.6% were cutaneous squamous cell carcinomas (cSCCs), and one case was a microcystic adnexal carcinoma. Most tumors were located in high-risk areas (88.2%), and 84.3% of them were ≥10 mm in diameter. Most tumors (90.2%) required no more than two MMS excision steps to be completely removed. All cases were managed by reconstruction either using flaps or grafts. Recurrence occurred in only 2% of the cases. This study addressed the main issues of MMS, which may be important in ENT surgeons' daily practice.

Congenital drainage at the base of the neck.

Heterotopic salivary gland tissue consists of otherwise normal salivary tissue, but occurs at a site in which it is normally not present (outside of the major, minor, and accessory salivary glands), with absence of clinical and histological features of branchial cleft anomalies. We herein present a 7-year-old boy with drainage from a small, congenital cystic lesion located at the base of the neck, which was histologically confirmed as salivary gland tissue.