Prognostic significance of clinical parameters and Epstein-Barr virus infection in non-endemic undifferentiated carcinoma of nasopharyngeal type: a Serbian report.

Undifferentiated carcinoma of nasopharyngeal type (UCNT) is very rare tumour in Serbia, like in most of the countries of Europe, with incidence less than 0.5 per 100,000 people per year. The aim of this study was to assess the presence of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in the UCNT of a non-endemic population in Serbia and identify the main clinical parameters that interfere with patients' survival rate. This study included 102 patients with UCNT who were diagnosed between 1996 and 2003. Biopsies were analysed for EBV-encoded RNA (EBER) by in situ hybridization of tumour tissue microarray. Of 102 patients, 76 were men and 26 were women with ages ranging between 18 and 82 years (median 52.5, mean 53.0±14.1). Survival rates were 80, 39 and 31% for one, three and five years, respectively. Ninety-three of 102 cases were EBER positive (92%). Factors with unfavourable prognostic values were age over 50 years at the time of diagnosis, advanced clinical stage, therapy other than chemoradiotherapy and EBER negative status. In regard to the clinical data, EBER expression in UCNT was shown to be a strong independent predictor of overall and progression-free survival. To our knowledge, the current report constitutes the largest European non-endemic series of UCNT samples from a single institution with correlation between survival and clinical parameters/EBER status.

Parapharyngeal space tumors: 61 case reviews.

Parapharyngeal tumors account for 0.5% of head and neck tumors. They are difficult to diagnose because they have few symptoms and are surgically inaccessible. This retrospective study included 61 patients with parapharyngeal space tumors, treated in the last 20 years. The data, obtained from the medical records, included symptoms and clinical signs, diagnostic procedures, surgical approach, postoperative complications and histopathological findings. The most common symptoms were dysphagia, foreign body sensation, pain, and symptom-free patients. For precise tumor localization and its relation to adjacent structures, computerized tomography, magnetic resonance imaging and contrast angiography were used. All the patients were treated surgically. The commonest surgical approach was transcervical, followed by transoral and combined transcervical-transoral. Histopathological examination verified that the origin of these tumors was most frequently salivary or neurogenic.