Genomic Signature of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinomas from Non-Smoking Non-Drinking Patients

Molecular alterations in 176 patients with oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCC) were evaluated to delineate differences in non-smoking non-drinking (NSND) patients. Somatic mutations and DNA copy number variations (CNVs) in a 68-gene panel and human papilloma virus (HPV) status were interrogated using targeted next-generation sequencing. In the entire cohort, TP53 (60%) and CDKN2A (24%) were most frequently mutated, and the most common CNVs were EGFR amplifications (9%) and deletions of BRCA2 (5%) and CDKN2A (4%). Significant associations were found for TP53 mutation and nodal disease, lymphovascular invasion and extracapsular spread, CDKN2A mutation or deletion with advanced tumour stage, and EGFR amplification with perineural invasion and extracapsular spread. PIK3CA mutation, CDKN2A deletion, and EGFR amplification were associated with worse survival in univariate analyses (p < 0.05 for all comparisons). There were 59 NSND patients who tended to be female and older than patients who smoke and/or drink, and showed enrichment of CDKN2A mutations, EGFR amplifications, and BRCA2 deletions (p < 0.05 for all comparisons), with a younger subset showing higher mutation burden. HPV was detected in three OSCC patients and not associated with smoking and drinking habits. NSND OSCC exhibits distinct genomic profiles and further exploration to elucidate the molecular aetiology in these patients is warranted.

Analysis of the occurrence, location and treatment of laryngeal carcinoma recurrence

Introduction: The efficacy of the applied model of laryngeal cancer treatment is measured by recurrence. Recurrence significantly reduces survival and determines the type of subsequent treatment. Objective: To determine the incidence of laryngeal cancer recurrence, the location of recurrence, and the definitive treatment of laryngeal cancer recurrence concerning different types of surgical treatments applied. Results: In the period from 2002 to 2017, 844 subjects with primary operated laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma were analyzed. Recurrence developed in 191/844 (22.6%) subjects. The mean recurrence time is 12.6 months. Supraglottic carcinoma is more likely to recur than glottic carcinoma 35.93% / 17.46%, p = 0.000. In N0 necks the recurrence rate is 14.42% and in N + necks it is 45.91, p = 0.000. In more advanced stages of the disease, the number of recurrence increases, p = 0.000. The most common area of recurrence is the neck with 45%, followed by local recurrence with 25.1%. Recurrence most often occurs in subjects with total laryngectomy and partial pharyngectomy, 50%. The most common development of regional recurrence is in the N3 category and extracapsular spread, 72.7%. The definitive treatment of recurrence usually involves radical neck dissection and total laryngectomy. Subjects with recurrence have a significantly lower three-year overall survival compared to those without recurrence, 47.6% / 92.3%, p = 0.000. Conclusion: Recurrence is expected in every fourth patient in the first 36 months following any type of surgical treatment of laryngeal carcinoma. The efficacy of treatment is directly related to recurrence. Recurrence is more common in more advanced stages of disease, extracapsular spread, and present metastases in the neck. Recurrence significantly reduces the overall survival of patients with laryngeal cancer.

Metastatic Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma Involving the Parotid Gland: Experience Outside of the Sun Belt

Objective To characterize a subset of patients with metastatic head and neck cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma in a tertiary North American center and describe oncologic outcomes following definitive treatment. Study Design Retrospective chart review. Setting National Cancer Institute–designated Comprehensive Cancer Center. Methods We conducted a retrospective chart review of patients with cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma with metastases to intraparotid lymph nodes who underwent parotidectomy between 1993 and 2020. Baseline patient and tumor characteristics were assessed. Regional control, disease-specific survival, and overall survival were estimated using Kaplan-Meier method. Multivariate analysis was used to determine the relationship between adverse pathological features and survival. Results A total of 122 patients were included. The median age was 76, 84.4% of patients were male, and 17.2% were immunosuppressed. Regional control, disease-specific survival, and overall survival were 68.5%, 70.7%, and 59.4% at 5 years, respectively. Perineural and lymphovascular invasion were predictive of worse disease-specific survival. Extracapsular spread was observed in 90.2% of patients and was not a significant predictor of outcome. Conclusions We found the demographics and oncologic outcomes of our cohort in the Northeast United States to be comparable with those previously reported in Australia and the Sun Belt of the United States. We noted a high rate of extracapsular spread but did not find it to be a significant predictor of recurrence or survival. Future efforts should address the impact of extracapsular spread on prognosis and adjuvant treatment decisions.