Carotid Artery Resection and Reconstruction due to Benign and Malignant Head and Neck Tumors.

OBJECTIVE: Carotid resection for head and neck cancer is rare, and serious complications may arise since such cancer is frequently detected in advanced stages. The objective is to describe nine cases of carotid artery resection and reconstruction due to tumor invasion. METHODS: The clinical records of nine patients who underwent carotid resection and reconstruction at our hospital were retrospectively reviewed. Carotid body tumors were evaluated with the aid of a vascular team in case carotid resection was necessary at the time of surgery. CT angiography to determine the status of the circle of Willis was performed in all patients who might undergo carotid resection and reconstruction in case of failure to restore cerebral blood flow and thus reduce possible sequelae due to ligation. RESULTS: Of nine patients, 6 had carotid body tumors, 1 had a thyroid tumor of conglomerate lymph nodes, 1 had a larynx tumor of conglomerate lymph nodes, and 1 had a myofibroblastic tumor. There were no intraoperative cerebrovascular accidents. One patient (11.1%) had a cerebrovascular accident secondary to carotid hematoma in the intermediate postoperative period that required vascular graft removal. One patient (11.1%) died seven days after surgery following an ischemic cerebrovascular accident. Eight patients remain asymptomatic, and 1 patient with recurrence and metastasis. CONCLUSIONS: Carotid resection remains a controversial issue in the treatment of advanced head and neck cancer. However, carotid resection and reconstruction are required for disease control, and complications such as thrombosis or vascular accidents may arise. Fortunately, this is a rare condition. We recommend carotid reconstruction for all patients in whom resection is required for tumor control. Ligation should be a last resort, as seen in the management of one of our patients.

Transcervical Approach in a Thrice Recurrent Parapharyngeal Space Tumor.

Parapharyngeal space tumors are rare and account for 0.5% of all head and neck tumors. Most of them are benign (95%), of which pleomorphic adenomas of the salivary gland are the most common. Due to their anatomical location, gaining surgical access while avoiding postoperative morbidity is the main limitation. We present the case of a 35-year-old male with a history of three transcervical resections of benign pleomorphic adenomas in the parapharyngeal space within the deep lobe of the parotid gland. The patient has been followed for more than ten years and maintains an adequate quality of life.

Acrometastasis: The Tip of the Iceberg of Metastatic Disease from Thyroid Cancer. Two Cases Report.

Acrometastasis, especially in the hands and fingers, is a rare clinical condition resulting from primary cancers such as lung, breast, kidney, and, rarely, thyroid cancer. Acrometastasis tends to be the tip of the iceberg in patients with extensive systemic disease, which could be regional, pulmonary, skeletal, neurological, or all of them combined. Even though these tumors are clearly visible and symptomatic, the diagnosis is usually misleading because such distal metastatic disease is not thought of at first. In general, systemic treatments should be given to any patient presenting digital acrometastasis. We describe two cases of papillary thyroid carcinoma and digital acrometastasis as a sign of advanced disease.

Desmoid Tumor of the Posterior Neck: A Case Report.

Desmoid tumors are rare. They account for roughly 0.03% of all neoplasms and less than 3% of all soft tissue tumors. They are locally aggressive tumors with no known metastatic potential or dedifferentiation. A 29-year-old woman with no family history of neoplasms presented with a mass in the cervical region and moderate pain that had developed a year before. The patient underwent marginal resection of the bilateral posterior and lateral compartments of the neck. The histopathological report confirmed the diagnosis of desmoid tumor with nuclear positivity for beta-catenin. The patient received radiotherapy but did not show a favorable response; she has stable disease and takes colchicine at one-year follow-up.

Conservative Treatment with CO2 Laser for oral Mucosal Melanoma: A case Report.

Mucosal melanoma of the head and neck is a rare and aggressive malignancy with poor prognosis even after extensive resection. A 76-year-old male with melanoma of the hard palate underwent CO2 laser resection as a conservative treatment to preserve his quality of life. Six months after lumpectomy the patient was asymptomatic and had no tumor activity. Recurrence is the rule. Local or regional relapse occurs at any time and patients eventually die from distant metastasis.

Role of Neck Dissection in Organ-Preservation for Glottic Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

The surgical approach to the neck in laryngeal cancer depends on the tumor site and stage. Clinical practice guidelines recommend elective neck dissection in ≥ T2 N0 and all supraglottic cancers; however, there is no evidence supporting these recommendations. The objective is to evaluate the results of bilateral elective neck dissection in patients with glottic cancer who underwent supracricoid partial laryngectomy (SCPL) with cricohyoidoepiglottopexy (CHEP). Thirty-five patients diagnosed with ≥ T2 N0 laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) in a single-center retrospective study. Right-sided neck dissections yielded 900 lymph nodes, none of which were positive for metastatic disease. Left-sided neck dissections yielded 949 lymph nodes, one of which was positive for malignancy. Prelaryngeal (Delphian) neck dissection was performed in all patients. Out of 50 lymph nodes removed; one was positive for malignancy. Median overall survival was 172 months, and the 60-month overall survival was 87.3%. The 60-month disease-specific survival was 97.1%. Bilateral neck dissection and Delphian node dissection showed a low rate of metastasis (2.8%). Radical neck dissection may thus represent overtreatment; however, this surgical procedure could be justified to prevent regional recurrences.

Supracricoid Partial Laryngectomy With and Without Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in Glottic Cancer.

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: To demonstrate that a group of patients who are not considered candidates for organ preservation can achieve organ preservation through neoadjuvant chemotherapy + surgery and to determine if there are differences regarding organ preservation, disease-free survival (DFS), overall survival (OS), and cancer-specific survival (CSS) after comparing such group with another one undergoing standard treatment. METHODS: Patients with laryngeal cancer were retrospectively analyzed and divided into two groups. Group A included patients who were initially treated with supracricoid laryngectomy. Group B included patients with T3N0 glottic squamous cell carcinoma with arytenoid fixation. Patients were offered neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Both groups underwent bilateral selective neck dissection of lymph nodes (II-V) and intentional search of the Delphian lymph nodes. RESULTS: Thirty-four patients were assigned to group A of surgery alone, and 16 patients were included in group B of induction chemotherapy. No statistical differences were found regarding sex, tumor localization, histological diagnosis, TNM staging, recurrence, or organ preservation. DFS, OS, and CSS at 60 months were the same in both groups. No statistical differences were found when comparing induction versus noninduction groups according to the T-stage in DFS, OS, and CSS. CONCLUSIONS: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy allows to perform conservative surgery in patients with poor functional prognosis or who are not good candidates for organ preservation at first. We could perform safe surgery, and there was no more recurrence. Hence DFS is not modified (i.e., there was no more recurrence); consequently, OS and CSS are not affected. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy plus supracricoid partial laryngectomy-cricohyoidoepiglottopexy is an oncologically safe procedure that preserves basic functions such as breathing, phonation, and swallowing. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 3 Laryngoscope, 132:156-162, 2022.

Clinicopathological and immunohistochemical behavior of ductal carcinoma of the salivary and lacrimal gland in a Mexican Mestizo population.

PURPOSE: Salivary gland tumors are rare and include benign and malignant entities with different behavior and prognosis. Salivary gland carcinoma accounts for 0.2% of all cancers and 5-9% of head and neck carcinomas. We aim to describe the clinicopathological characteristics and discuss the immunohistochemical findings of salivary ductal carcinoma. METHODS: We obtained 17 cases (2.3%) of salivary ductal carcinoma (SDC) from 727 patients with parotid tumors at our cancer center from a database covering a 22-year period (1996-2018). Two pathologists confirmed the diagnosis and excluded 6 cases. Eleven cases were assessed by immunohistochemistry (IHC) for HER2, estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), androgen receptor (AR), mammaglobin, P53, GATA3, S100, cytokeratins (7,8,14,18, and 20), P63, PAX8, calponin, and SOX10. RESULTS: Eleven SDC cases were in advanced stage, and 80% had metastasis. All cases were surgically treated, and 40% received different adjuvant chemotherapy regimens. we found that most patients were dead of disease. The histological and immunohistochemical analysis showed that 70% of cases were high-grade, 40% were positive for HER2, and 50% for AR. Moreover, a high Ki-67 proliferative index was detected in all cases. We observed luminal differentiation in 50% of cases. CONCLUSION: SDC is a rare entity and survival is very poor. It is histologically similar to ductal carcinoma of the breast. However, important differences exist that help to distinguish them in case of synchronous cancers. The clinical behavior of SDC seems to be more aggressive and IHC analysis is useful for designing therapies.