Permanent iodine—125 implants in postoperative radiotherapy for head and neck cancer with positive surgical margins

A great disappointment in head and neck cancer surgery is that 10–30% of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients develop local recurrences despite histopathologically tumor-free surgical margins. These recurrences result from either minimal residual cancer (MRC) or preneoplastic lesions that remain behind after tumor resection. Distinguishing MRC from preneoplasic lesions is important to tailor postoperative radiotherapy more adequately. Here we investigated the suitability of quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) using human Ly-6D (hLy-6D) transcripts as molecular marker to detect MRC in surgical margins.Submucosal samples of deep surgical margins were collected from 18 non-cancer control patients and 67 HNSCC patients of whom eight had tumor-positive surgical margins. The samples were analyzed with hLy-6D qRT-PCR, and the data were analyzed in relation to the clinicohistological parameters.A significant difference was shown between the group of patients with histopathological tumor-positive surgical margins and the non-cancer control group (p < 0.001), and the group of patients with histopathological tumor-free surgical margins (p = 0.001).This study shows a novel approach for molecular analysis of deep surgical margins in head and neck cancer surgery. The preliminary data of this approach for detection of MRC in deep margins of HNSCC patients are promising.

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High rates of postoperative radiotherapy delay in head and neck cancer before and after Medicaid expansion

Head & Neck ◽

10.1002/hed.26736 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

John Pang ◽

Farhoud Faraji ◽

Erik Risa ◽

Loren K. Mell ◽

Jeffrey J. Houlton ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Head And Neck Cancer ◽

Head And Neck ◽

Neck Cancer ◽

Postoperative Radiotherapy ◽

Medicaid Expansion ◽

Before And After

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351 Oral Accelerated versus conventional fractionated postoperative radiotherapy for advanced head and neck cancer: preliminary results of a multicenter phase III study

Radiotherapy and Oncology ◽

10.1016/s0167-8140(02)82666-4 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 64 ◽

pp. S118-S119

Keyword(s):

Head And Neck Cancer ◽

Head And Neck ◽

Neck Cancer ◽

Postoperative Radiotherapy ◽

Phase Iii ◽

Advanced Head ◽

Preliminary Results ◽

Multicenter Phase ◽

Phase Iii Study

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Postoperative Radiotherapy in Head and Neck Cancer

Otorhinolaryngology Clinics - An International Journal ◽

10.5005/jp-journals-10003-1016 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 2 (1) ◽

pp. 43-51

Author(s):

Vedang Murthy ◽

Sayan Kundu ◽

Tanweer Shahid ◽

Ashwini Budrukkar ◽

Tejpal Gupta ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Head And Neck Cancer ◽

Targeted Therapy ◽

Head And Neck ◽

Neck Cancer ◽

Early Stage ◽

Postoperative Radiotherapy ◽

Locally Advanced ◽

Head And Neck Cancers ◽

Advanced Head ◽

Locoregional Failure

Abstract Though early stage head and neck cancers can be cured either by surgery or radiation, patients with locally advanced disease continues to pose a therapeutic challenge. Locoregional failure is the major cause of death in head and neck cancers. As the outcome of locally advanced head and neck cancer is less than promising, a combined modality approach is generally undertaken in this group of patients. The combination of surgery, radiation and more recently, chemotherapy and targeted therapy can improve outcomes in locally advanced head and neck cancer patients. This overview discusses the rationale and role of postoperative radiotherapy (PORT) in advanced head and neck cancers, the radiotherapy technique in brief and methods of enhancing the efficacy of postoperative RT by altering the fractionation schedules and adding chemotherapy and targeted therapy.

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