[French national standard for the treatment of squamous cell carcinoma of upper aero-digestive tract - General principles of treatment]. / Référentiel national de traitement des carcinomes épidermoïdes des voies aérodigestives supérieures ­ Principes généraux de traitement.

OBJECTIVES: The management of upper aerodigestive tract cancers is a complex specialty. It is essential to provide an update to establish optimal care. At the initiative of the INCa and under the auspices of the SFORL, the scientific committee, led by Professor Béatrix Barry, Dr. Gilles Dolivet, and Dr. Dominique De Raucourt, decided to develop a reference framework aimed at defining, in a scientific and consensus-based manner, the general principles of treatment for upper aerodigestive tract cancers applicable to all sub-locations. METHODOLOGY: To develop this framework, a multidisciplinary team of practitioners was formed. A systematic analysis of the literature was conducted to produce recommendations classified by grades, in accordance with the standards of the French National Authority for Health (HAS). RESULTS: The grading of recommendations according to HAS standards has allowed the establishment of a reference for patient care based on several criteria. In this framework, patients benefit from differentiated care based on prognostic factors they present (age, comorbidities, TNM status, HPV status, etc.), conditions of implementation, and quality criteria for indicated surgery (operability, resectability, margin quality, mutilation, salvage surgery), as well as quality criteria for radiotherapy (target volume, implementation time, etc.). The role of medical and postoperative treatments was also evaluated based on specific criteria. Finally, supportive care must be organized from the beginning and throughout the patients' care journey. CONCLUSION: All collected data have led to the development of a comprehensive framework aimed at harmonizing practices nationally, facilitating decision-making in multidisciplinary consultation meetings, promoting equality in practices, and providing a state-of-the-art and reference practices for assessing the quality of care. This new framework is intended to be updated every 5 years to best reflect the latest advances in the field.

Epidemiologic, Clinical, Ultrasonographic, and Cytological Features of Thyroid Nodules in Predicting Malignancy Risk: A Retrospective Study of 442 French Afro-Caribbean Patients.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate epidemiologic, clinical, cytological, and ultrasonographic features of thyroid nodules in a sample French Afro-Caribbean population to determine if the standard criteria for predicting malignancy risk are applicable to this specific ethnic population. Methods and Design. This retrospectively designed study consisted of 442 patients who had consulted with the Endocrinology Department in Martinique (French overseas department) between 2007 and 2011. Of the 442 patients, 641 ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspirations (US-FNA) were performed by two experienced endocrinologists, and 212 patients underwent surgery. The geographical situation, age, gender of the patient, clinical and ultrasonographic features, TSH level, and US-FNA results were considered and cross-referenced with their pathology results. RESULTS: The overall malignancy rate on final histopathology was 9% (women only), 80% of which were papillary cancer, and 20% were follicular cancer. Occult micropapillary carcinoma represented 35% of the papillary cancer. There was no significant difference in age, nodule localization, number of nodules, or thyroid function test between benign and malignant nodules. Contrary to the literature, we found only 12% incidentaloma in our series, while more than half of the nodules were discovered on palpation or as a clinical symptom. Hypoechogenicity in solid pattern nodules and nodules between 2 and 3 cm in size revealed a high diagnostic value in detecting malignancy. The corresponding rate of malignancy on Bethesda system histopathologic examination was as follows: 0% in undiagnosed (I), 0% benign (II) (micropapillary), 5% (FLUS)/atypia (III), 9% follicular neoplasm (IV), 33% suspected malignancy (V), and no malignant cytology (VI). These results show a different Bethesda system predictive value for this French Afro-Caribbean population. CONCLUSION: Studies evaluating ethnic cancer disparities among patients with thyroid cancer are limited and do not specifically focus on the French Afro-Caribbean population. Despite rare thyroid incidentaloma, 35% of the papillary cancer cases were micropapillary carcinoma, and the incidence and standardized mortality rate in Martinique are lower than in metropolitan France. The malignant risk distribution of thyroid FNA Bethesda classification in this sample population differs from the standard risk, and it is necessary to take that into account in the decision to operate by associating it with echographic malignancy criteria.

Epidemiology and Characteristics of Kikuchi-Fujimoto Disease in the African-Descent Population of Martinique, French West Indies.

OBJECTIVE: To provide an epidemiologic description of Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease (KFD), and to describe its relationship with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in a population of sub-Saharan origin. METHODS: Patients were retrospectively included on the basis of lymph node histology compatible with KFD reported in Martinique from 1991 until 2013. In order to describe the characteristics of the disease in a larger cohort, we subsequently included more patients of Afro-Caribbean origin from Guadeloupe and French Guiana. RESULTS: In Martinique, mean annual incidence between 1991 and 2013 was 2.78 cases for 1 million inhabitants (95% confidence interval 1.73-3.93). A total of 36 Afro-Caribbean patients from the 3 French American regions were included. Mean age was 30.5 years (range 5-59 years) and the female:male ratio was 3:1. The main characteristics were cervical adenopathies (88.8%), fever (83.3%), asthenia (73.0%), weight loss (64.4%), and recurrence in 33.3%. KFD was associated with lupus (n = 9 for SLE, n = 2 for cutaneous lupus) in 36.6% (11 of 30). CONCLUSION: We report the first epidemiologic description of KFD in a population of sub-Saharan origin. According to our data, this disease is present in the black African diaspora and is strongly associated with autoimmune diseases, particularly lupus.