Neck dissection (ND) is a complex surgical operation involving the removal of potential or proven metastases to cervical lymph nodes. The aim of the procedure is to remove lymph nodes from one side of the neck into which cancer cells may have migrated. Prior to reading about the classification of neck dissections, knowledge about the …
The mainstay of treatment for oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma is chemoradiotherapy. The separation of oropharyngeal cancers into Human papillomavirus (HPV) positive and negative based on the etiology has shown that HPV positive cancers have a better prognosis and survival compared to HPV negative cancers. These young age HPV positive patients with prolonged survival are more …
Prior to 1990, the mainstay of treatment for oropharyngeal cancers were surgeries. These large, invasive, open approaches like mandibulotomy, tongue pull through (described below), etc were associated with severe compromise in postoperative speech, swallow and airway function of the patient due to violation of pharyngeal mucosa. In addition, surgical management did not avoid the need …
After the diagnosis of any cancer in the body, doctors stage cancer. Staging of thyroid cancers describes how big it is and whether it has spread to any other parts of the body. Staging also helps the doctors in deciding the treatment options, predicting the prognosis and treatment outcomes of cancer. Most of the cancers …
Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT); also called Induction chemotherapy is a treatment option in cancer therapy, in which chemotherapy is given prior to the definitive treatment like surgery or radiotherapy. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy in cancer treatment can reduce the tumor volume, improve organ function prior to definitive treatment, permits more effective and less toxic local therapy. Giving NACT …
Main modality of treatment for oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma is surgery. Patients with advanced risk factors like margin positivity, perineural invasion, advanced disease, etc need postoperative radiotherapy. Significant advances in terms of oncologic treatment (lasers, robotics) and outcomes have happened in the last three decades. But irrespective of these advancements 5‐year overall survival hasn’t …
A 65-year-old male presented with a nonhealing ulcer over the pinna of the right ear for 5 months. A biopsy from the lesion was done and the following is the report. Carcinoma with basaloid features and pigmentation – biopsy right pinna. Immunostaining: P63 – diffuse strong positivity. P40 – diffuse moderate positivity. BerEP4 – negative.
Staging of cancers is essential for patient counseling, treatment planning, predict treatment outcome and survival. Most commonly followed staging system for head and neck malignancies is the Tumor, Node, Metastasis (TNM staging system) by the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC). Because of the relative rarity of temporal bone cancers, a universally accepted temporal bone …
Total laryngectomy is a surgical procedure mostly done for malignancies involving the larynx. In this surgery, the entire larynx (voice box) is removed by resecting the trachea and bringing out the lower stump as a respiratory opening in the anterior part of the neck (permanent tracheostomy) and thereby closing off the air passages to the …
A 42-year-old male patient presented with a non-healing ulcer on the right lateral border of the tongue for 3 months. A biopsy from the lesion proven to be well-differentiated squamous cell carcinoma. After metastatic workup, he underwent wide excision of the lesion with ipsilateral neck dissection. On post-op follow up, the patient presented with complaints …
