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Background: PanNETs are a rare group of pancreatic tumors that display heterogeneous histopathological and clinical behavior. Nodal disease has been established as one of the strongest predictors of patient outcomes in PanNETs. Lack of accurate preoperative assessment of nodal disease is a major limitation in the management of these patients, in particular those with small (< 2 cm) low-grade tumors. The aim of the study was to evaluate the ability of radiomic features (RF) to preoperatively predict the presence of nodal disease in pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PanNETs). Patients and Methods: An institutional database was used to identify patients with nonfunctional PanNETs undergoing resection. Pancreas protocol computed tomography was obtained, manually segmented, and RF were extracted. These were analyzed using the minimum redundancy maximum relevance analysis for hierarchical feature selection. Youden index was used to identify the optimal cutoff for predicting nodal disease. A random forest prediction model was trained using RF and clinicopathological characteristics and validated internally. Results: Of the 320 patients included in the study, 92 (28.8%) had nodal disease based on histopathological assessment of the surgical specimen. A radiomic signature based on ten selected RF was developed. Clinicopathological characteristics predictive of nodal disease included tumor grade and size. Upon internal validation the combined radiomics and clinical feature model demonstrated adequate performance (AUC 0.80) in identifying nodal disease. The model accurately identified nodal disease in 85% of patients with small tumors (< 2 cm). Conclusions: Non-invasive preoperative assessment of nodal disease using RF and clinicopathological characteristics is feasible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To evaluate the therapeutic effect of post‐operative radiotherapy (PORT) with respect to nodal status among patients with head and neck Merkel cell carcinoma (HNMCC). Methods: In this retrospective study, we queried Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) dataset from 2000 through 2019. We included all adult patients who received primary surgical resection for histologically confirmed treatment naive HNMCC. Entropy balancing was used to reweight observations such that there was covariate balance between patients who received PORT and patients who received surgical resection alone. Doubly robust estimation was achieved by incorporating weights into a multivariable cox proportional hazards model. Planned post hoc subgroup analysis was performed to evaluate the impact of PORT by pathological node status. Results: Among 752 patients (mean age, 73.3 years [SD 10.8]; 64.2% male; 91.2% White; 41.9% node‐positive), 60.4% received PORT. Among node‐positive patients, we found that PORT was associated with improved overall survival (OS) (aHR, 0.55; 95% CI, 0.37–0.81; p = 0.003) and improved disease‐specific survival (DSS) (aHR, 0.57; 95% CI, 0.35–0.92; p = 0.022). Among node‐negative patients, we found that PORT was not associated with OS and was associated with worse DSS (aHR, 2.34; 95% CI, 1.30–4.23; p = 0.005). Conclusions: We found that PORT was associated with improved OS and DSS for node‐positive patients and worse DSS for node‐negative patients. For HNMCC treated with primary surgical resection, these data confirm the value of PORT for pathologically node‐positive patients and support the use of single modality surgical therapy for pathologically node‐negative patients without other adverse risk factors. Level of Evidence: 4 Laryngoscope, 134:3587–3594, 2024 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) and/or single fraction stereotactic body radiosurgery (SRS) are effective treatment options for the treatment of oligometastatic disease of lymph nodes. Despite the encouraging local control rate, progression-free survival remains unfair due to relapses that might occur in the same district or at other sites. The recurrence pattern analysis after nodal local ablative RT (laRT) in oligometastatic patients is presented in this study. Methods: The pattern of failure of patients with nodal metastases who were recruited and treated with SBRT in the Destroy-1 or SRS in the Destroy-2 trials was investigated in this single-institution, retrospective analysis. The different relapsed sites following laRT were recorded. Results: Data on 190 patients who received SBRT or SRS on 269 nodal lesions were reviewed. A relapse rate of 57.2% (154 out of 269 nodal lesions) was registered. The pattern of failure was distant in 88 (57.4%) and loco-regional in 66 (42.6%) patients, respectively. The most frequent primary malignancies among patients experiencing loco-regional failure were genitourinary and gynaecological cancers. Furthermore, the predominant site of loco-regional relapse (62%) was the pelvic area. Only 26% of locoregional relapses occurred contra laterally, with 74% occurring ipsilaterally. Conclusions: The recurrence rates after laRT for nodal disease were more frequent in distant regions compared to locoregional sites. The most common scenarios for locoregional relapse appear to be genitourinary cancer and the pelvic site. In addition, recurrences often occur in the same nodal station or in a nodal station contiguous to the irradiated nodal site. Advances in knowledge: Local ablative radiotherapy is an effective treatment in managing nodal oligometastasis. Despite the high local control rate, the progression free survival remains dismal with recurrences that can occur both loco-regionally or at distance. To understand the pattern of failure could aid the physicians to choose the best treatment strategy. This is the first study that reports the recurrence pattern of a significant number of nodal lesions treated with laRT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Despite notable advances made in preoperative staging, unexpected nodal metastases after surgery are still significantly detected. In this study we aim to analyze the upstaging rate in patients with clinical stage I NSCLC without evidence of nodal disease in the preoperative staging who underwent lobectomy and radical lymphadenectomy. Methods: Patients who underwent lobectomy and systematic lymphadenectomy for clinical stage INSCLCwere evaluated. Exclusion criteria included the neoadjuvant treatment, incomplete resection and no adherence to preoperative guidelines. Results: A total of 297 patients were included in the study. 159 patients were female, and the median age was 68 (61 - 73). The variables that showed a significant correlation with the upstaging rate at the univariate analysis were the number of resected lymph nodes and micropapillar/solid adenocar-cinoma subtype. This result was confirmed in the multivariate analysis with a OR= 2.545 (95%CI 1.136-5.701; p=0.02) for the number of resected lymph nodes and a OR=2.717 (95%CI 1.256-5.875; p=0.01) for the high-grade pattern of adenocarcinoma. Conclusion: Our results showed that in a homogeneous cohort of patients with clinical stage I NSCLC, the number of resected lymph nodes and the histological subtype of adenocarcinoma can significantly be associated with nodal metastasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Preoperative mediastinal staging plays a crucial role in determining the appropriate treatment strategy for patients with stage IIIA-N2 disease, but an optimal treatment strategy has yet to be established. Invasive mediastinal staging is indicated in approximately 30% of patients with suspected NSCLC. In general, if proven N2 disease is present, induction therapy is prioritized in order to downstage and achieve a better prognosis. In the absence of N2 disease, surgical resection with mediastinal lymphadenectomy is the most appropriate treatment option. Nevertheless, unforeseen N2 (uN2) disease, also called unexpected or surprise N2, can still be found during or after surgery despite current preoperative mediastinal staging showing N0 or N1 disease. As preoperative mediastinal staging improved over time, the prevalence of uN2 changed. The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of true uN2 disease and its characteristics. A secondary objective is to identify its significance for long-term outcomes. Patients with unforeseen N2 (uN2) disease are traditionally considered to have an unfavorable prognosis. As preoperative and intraoperative mediastinal staging improved over time, the prevalence of uN2 changed. In this review, the current evidence on uN2 disease and its prevalence will be evaluated. A systematic literature search was performed to identify all studies or completed, published trials that included uN2 disease until 6 April 2023, without language restrictions. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) was used to score the included papers. A total of 512 articles were initially identified, of which a total of 22 studies met the predefined inclusion criteria. Despite adequate mediastinal staging, the pooled prevalence of true unforeseen pN2 (9387 patients) was 7.97% (95% CI 6.67–9.27%), with a pooled OS after five years (892 patients) of 44% (95% CI 31–58%). Substantial heterogeneity regarding the characteristics of uN2 disease limited our meta-analysis considerably. However, it seems patients with uN2 disease represent a subcategory with a similar prognosis to stage IIb if complete surgical resection can be achieved, and the contribution of adjuvant therapy is to be further explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: The clinically relevant information that guides further surgical management of the axilla in women with breast cancer is the distinction between non-significant (N0–N1) versus significant (≥N2) lymph node metastases. In women with newly diagnosed breast cancer, MRI is increasingly used to determine the local extent of disease in the breast. The aim of our retrospective study on 414 patients who underwent routine breast MRI for local staging of the breast was to determine whether an abbreviated protocol for regional lymph node staging is sufficient to identify patients with significant nodal disease. Our results demonstrated that a single 3 min coronal T1-weighted sequence, acquired with the system's built-in body coil, covering the chest wall, axilla, and supra- and infraclavicular region, helped rule out the presence of significant nodal disease with a NPV of 98.8% [97.0–100%]. False-positive findings were mostly caused by patients with positive, but non-significant, lymph node metastases (N1). Background: The detection of regional lymph node metastases (LNM), in particular significant LNM (≥N2), is important to guide treatment decisions in women with breast cancer. The purpose of this study was to determine whether a coronal pulse sequence as part of pre-operative breast MRI is useful to identify women without significant LNM. Material: Retrospective study between January 2017 and December 2019 on 414 consecutive women with breast cancer who underwent pre-operative breast MRI on a 1.5 T system. For lymph node (LN) staging, a coronal pre-contrast non-fat-suppressed T1-weighted TSE sequence was acquired with the system's built-in body coil, covering the chest wall; acquisition time 3:12 min. Two radiologists rated the likelihood of LNM on a 3-point scale (absent/possible/present). Validation was obtained by histology from sentinel LN biopsy, axillary LN dissection, and/or PET/CT. Results: 368/414 women were staged to have no or non-significant LNM (pN0 in 282/414, pN1 in 86/414), and significant LNM (≥pN2) in 46/414. For identification of women with significant LNM, MRI was true-positive in 42/46, false-negative in 4/46, true-negative in 327/368, and false-positive in 41/83, the latter mostly caused by women with N1-disease (38/41), yielding an NPV and PPV for significant LNM of 98.8% [95%-CI: 97.0–100%] and 50.6% [43.1–58.1%], respectively. Conclusions: A 3 min coronal T1-weighted pulse sequence covering the chest wall as part of pre-operative breast MRI is useful to rule out significant LNM with high NPV. Where MRI staging is positive for significant LNM, additional work-up is indicated to improve the distinction of N1 and N2 disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) accounts for the majority of thyroid malignancies; risk of PTC recurrence over a 30‐year period is approximately 30%, of which 70% occur as nodal metastases. Patients with nodal disease who are treated with therapeutic dissection are at higher risk for recurrence, but optimal nodal yield has not been defined. We aim to determine variables predictive of nodal recurrence of PTC within the first 5 years of surgery, with a focus on lymph node ratio (LNR), to inform clinical decision‐making. Methods: Retrospective chart review identified 41 patients with nodal recurrence of PTC and 284 without nodal recurrence following thyroid surgery from 2000 to 2015. Cohorts were compared with regards to clinical history, surgical findings, and tumor characteristics. Results: The fraction of the patients who underwent therapeutic central or lateral lymph node dissection was significantly higher in the nodal recurrence cohort. Maximum tumor size, presence of extrathyroidal extension, largest lymph node focus, LNR, postoperative thyroglobulin level, and administration of postoperative radioactive iodine were significantly increased in the PTC nodal recurrence group. LNR greater than 0.3 held the highest level of significance as a binary cutoff and captured the larger proportion of patients in the nodal recurrence cohort (68.3%). Conclusion: This study demonstrates characteristics to help assess risk of nodal recurrence of PTC and suggests LNR of lower than 0.3 is optimal to reduce risk of recurrence. The next steps include cohort studies to validate findings and weight variable analysis to optimize the extent of surgical therapeutic dissection. Level of Evidence: 4 Laryngoscope, 132:1883–1887, 2022 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some studies showed that the increase of tumor size has a negative effect on survival in colon cancers. Our study aims to assess the effects of tumor volume on lymph node positivity and prognosis in stage pT3 colon cancers. All patients who underwent surgery for colon cancer in our clinic were evaluated retrospectively. The study included 213 patients who were diagnosed with colon adenocarcinoma and reported as pathologic. Preoperative abdomen computed tomography scans were used for measurements of tumor volume. Tumor volumes were compared according to the pathological lymph node involvement. Cut-off values were determined with ROC analysis. The cases were divided into groups according to the determined cut-off value and data compared. Mean tumor volume was found to be higher in the lymph node-positive group (p=0.01). The higher number of removed lymph nodes and lymph node positivity was detected more in cases that were above the cut-off value (p=0.003 and p=0.004, respectively). The mean survival time was 37.3±1.3 months. There was no correlation between tumor volume and the overall survival time (p=0.21). According to data comparison of the lymph node positivity, Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that the increase of the N stage reduces the 5-year survival rate (for the N0, N1, N2 stages, 60%, 52%, 35%, respectively). Tumor volume is correlated with lymph node involvement. It has been shown that increasing the N stage has a negative effect on prognosis. Our study showed that tumor volume has no significant impact on survival but may have an indirect effect on prognosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This systematic review and meta-analysis seek to evaluate the prevalence of nodal disease in rectal cancer patients with pathological complete responses (pCR) after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (ypT0N+). Methods: This study conformed to the PRISMA guidelines. A search was performed on major databases to identify relevant articles. Meta-analyses of pooled proportions were performed on rectal cancer with pCR and ypT0N+. Meta-regression was undertaken to identify sources of heterogeneity, and the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) was employed to assess the risk of bias. Results: A total of 18 studies were included, totaling 7568 patients. The overall risk of bias was low, since all studies scored 6 and above out of 9 on the NOS. Preoperatively, the pooled proportions of patients with T3/T4 tumors and clinically positive nodal disease were 84.08% (95% CI 74.19 to 91.99%) and 52.14% (95% CI 35.02 to 69.00%) respectively. The prevalence of pCR in the whole pool was 18.52% (95% CI 13.31 to 24.35%; I2 = 93.85%; P = 0.00), and meta-regression showed a significantly negative relationship with patient age (β = − 0.03, 95% CI − 0.03 to − 0.02; P = 0.00). The pooled prevalence of ypT0N+ was 4.61% (95% CI 2.41 to 7.28%; I2 = 52.27%; P = 0.01), and meta-regression demonstrated a significantly positive relationship with male gender (β = 1.06, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.12; P = 0.04). Conclusion: There is a small risk of ypN+ in patients with pCR after neoadjuvant CRT and surgery for rectal cancer. However, further research is warranted to establish these findings and to identify predictive factors for this specific group of patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Esthesioneuroblastoma is an uncommon malignancy of the sinonasal tract arising from the olfactory epithelium. Surgical management of the primary site, often via an endoscopic approach, with or without adjuvant radiation, is often curative. There is growing but ultimately limited data regarding management of the neck and the risk of nodal metastases. In this study, we examine the incidence and patterns of esthesioneuroblastoma-related cervical nodal metastases using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database.Methods: The SEER registry was queried for all patients with esthesioneuroblastomas diagnosed between 1973 and 2012. Patient data was then analyzed with respect to age, sex, race, modified Kadish stage, grade, survival functions, and nodal disease including specific nodal basins.Results: Three hundred and eighty-one cases of esthesioneuroblastoma with information on nodal metastases were identified. The overall cervical nodal metastasis rate was 8.7%. Level II metastases were most common (6.6%). A total of 4.5% of cases presented with multiple positive nodal basins. Male sex (P = 0.009) and higher tumor grade (P = 0.009) correlated with the presence of level II metastases. There was no association of primary tumor site to the presence of nodal metastases (P > 0.05). The presence of nodal disease significantly predicted poorer overall (P = 0.001) and disease-specific survival (P = 0.017).Conclusion: The incidence of nodal metastases in esthesioneuroblastoma at diagnosis is rare, and elective management of the neck remains controversial. Primary tumor site does not appear to predict metastases at specific nodal basins. Higher tumor grade may be a harbinger of eventual nodal metastases.Level Of Evidence: NA Laryngoscope, 129:1025-1029, 2019. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: With an expectation of excellent locoregional control, ongoing efforts to de-intensify therapy for patients with human papillomavirus-associated squamous cell oropharyngeal cancer necessitate a better understanding of the metastatic risk for patients with this disease. The objective of this study was to determine what factors affect the risk of metastases in patients with squamous cell cancers of the oropharynx.Methods: Under a shared use agreement, 547 patients from Radiation Therapy Oncology Group 0129 and 0522 with nonmetastatic oropharyngeal squamous cell cancers who had a known p16 status and smoking status were analyzed to assess the association of clinical features with the development of distant metastases. The analyzed factors included the p16 status, sex, T stage, N stage, age, and smoking history.Results: A multivariate analysis of 547 patients with a median follow-up of 4.8 years revealed that an age ≥ 50 years (hazard ratio [HR], 3.28; P = .003), smoking for more than 0 pack-years (HR, 3.09; P < .001), N3 disease (HR, 2.64; P < .001), T4 disease (HR, 1.63; P = .030), and a negative p16 status (HR, 1.60; P = .044) were all factors associated with an increased risk of distant disease.Conclusions: Age, smoking, N3 disease, T4 disease, and a negative p16 status were associated with the development of distant metastases in patients with squamous cell cancers of the oropharynx treated definitively with concurrent chemoradiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Research on endometrial cancer (EC) has demonstrated an association between increasing tumor size and poor outcomes, including increase in nodal disease and advanced stage at diagnosis. However, the implications of overall uterine weight (UW) at the time of hysterectomy for EC are unknown. The aim of this study is to investigate if increasing UW is associated with poor prognosis, specifically regarding lymph node metastasis (LNM), lymphovascular space invasion (LVSI), and stage. Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study of patients undergoing robotic-assisted surgical management of EC at two institutions. Patients with a preoperative diagnosis of complex atypical hyperplasia (CAH) or EC were included. All patients underwent surgical staging including hysterectomy, bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, pelvic lymphadenectomy, and when feasible, para-aortic lymphadenectomy. Patients were categorized based on UW on final pathology report, into one of six groups: < 50 grams, 51-100 grams, 101-150 grams, 151-200 grams, 201-250 grams, and > 250 grams. The rate of lymph node involvement, LVSI, and stage were then analyzed for each group. Chi-Square and t-test were used for statistical analysis. Results: From 2013-2017, 161 patients were identified. Twenty-seven patients were excluded due to final pathology diagnosis other than EC. Of the remaining 134 patients, 103 had LVSI, 96 had LNM and 116 had stage reported. There were 120 (89.6%) endometrioid, four (2.9%) papillary serous, three (2.2%) clear cell, three (2.2%) carcinosarcoma, three (2.2%) undifferentiated, and one (0.7%) endometrial stromal sarcoma histologies. Among the entire cohort, the incidence of LNM was 19.8% and LVSI was 12.6%. Increasing UW was associated with increase in LVSI (p = 0.003), LN metastasis (p = 0.000), and stage (p = 0.010). On further analysis, the cohort was examined as two separate groups, UW < 200 vs. > 200 grams. UW > 200 grams is associated with significant increase in LVSI (p = 0.045) and LNM (p = 0.0005). There were no LNM in patients with UW < 100 grams. Conclusions: Increasing UW at the time of hysterectomy for EC is associated with increase in LVSI, LN metastasis, and stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background As the locoregional control rates in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) have increased, these patients may suffer distant metastasis in a higher proportion of cases. Clinicopathological characteristics allowing prediction of high-risk profile would allow adapting posttreatment surveillance to individual risk. Methods A retrospective review of all patients with HNSCC treated at the Jewish General Hospital, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, between 1999 and 2008 was conducted for this study. Results The study included 428 patients with a mean follow-up of 65 months (±SEM 1.7). Eighty patients (18.6%) developed pulmonary malignancy during follow-up. In multivariate Cox-regression analysis, locoregional failure and current smoking were associated with higher risk of pulmonary malignancy ( p < .001 and p = .008, respectively). Conclusion Locoregional failure and smoking persistence are predictors of pulmonary malignancy in patients with HNSCC. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 38: E1277-E1280, 2016 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: (1) To identify predictors of nodal disease in parotid malignancies using various clinical and pathologic variables. (2) To examine the effect of nodal disease on overall survival (OS) in parotid cancersStudy Design: Retrospective database review.Setting: National Cancer Data Base (1998-2012).Subjects and Methods: We identified all cases of primary parotid malignancies in the United States between 1998 and 2012 in the National Cancer Data Base. Eight histopathologies, constituting >80% of all cases, were examined for nodal metastasis and survival.Results: We identified 22,653 cases of primary parotid cancer. Eight major histologies were studied, with mucoepidermoid carcinoma (31%), acinic cell carcinoma (18%), adenocarcinoma (14%), and adenoid cystic carcinoma (9%) being most common. Regional nodal disease incidence was 24.4% overall and varied by histopathology. Salivary ductal carcinoma had the highest incidence of both nodal metastasis and occult lymph node metastasis. Overall, N0 patients lived significantly longer than N+ (5-year OS, 79% vs 40%; P < .001). Low-grade disease had significantly better survival than high-grade (5-year OS, 88% vs 69%; P < .001). Occult nodal disease was found in 10.2% and varied by histopathology.Conclusion: Regional lymph node metastasis significantly decreases survival in many parotid malignancies. High-grade cancers had higher incidences of regional disease than did low grade. Adenocarcinoma had the highest mortality when regional disease was present. Incidence of occult disease varied by histology, but incidence was <10% for all low-grade disease. High T stage and grade are significant independent predictors of nodal disease for most histopathologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The nodal status is a strong predictor for cancer specific death in patients with penile carcinoma, and the C-reactive protein (CRP) level at diagnosis has recently been shown to be associated with poor clinical outcome in various solid malignancies. Therefore, this retrospective study was performed to evaluate the association between preoperative CRP levels and the incidence of nodal metastasis in patients with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the penis. Methods The analysis included 51 penile cancer patients who underwent either radical or partial penectomy for pT1-4 penile cancer between 1990 and 2010. The nodal status was correlated with patient and tumor specific characteristics. Results Sixteen (31%) patients had lymph node metastasis at the time of penile cancer surgery. Nodal status was associated with tumor stage but did not correlate significantly with tumor grade. In contrast, high presurgical CRP levels were significantly associated with the diagnosis of nodal involvement (p = 0.04). The optimal CRP cut-off value to predict lymph node metastasis was set at 20 mg/l based on ROC analysis. Conclusions Since a high preoperative serum CRP level was closely correlated with nodal disease, it could be used as an additional marker to help identify patients with penile cancer who may benefit from inguinal lymph node dissection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Evaluate the impact of primary site stage and cervical metastasis on the survival of patients with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the hard palate or maxillary alveolus. Study Design: Cross-sectional population analysis of prospectively maintained database. Methods: Cases of hard palate and maxillary alveolus SCC from 1988-2004 were extracted from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database. Demographic data and extent of disease were extracted for each case, and T-stage, and N-stage were computed. Survival differences according to T-stage and N-stage were determined with the Kaplan-Meier method and the log-rank test. Results: Four hundred eleven cases of maxillary alveolus and 314 cases of hard palate SCC were identified, for a total of 725 cases (53.9% female, mean age: 70.9 years). The prevalence of cervical metastasis was not significantly different according to primary site ( P = .181); advanced N-stage significantly correlated with more advanced T-stage ( P < .001). Of the 725 cases, 4.1% of T1 tumors, 14.9% of T2 tumors, 10.3% of T3 tumors, and 24.7% of T4 tumors had cervical nodal metastases. The mean overall survivals were 96.5, 69.1, 67.8, and 49.3 months for T1-T4 tumors, respectively ( P < .001). With regard to N-stage, the mean survivals were 73.7, 69.7, 29.8, and 5.5 months for N0-N3 lesions, respectively ( P < .001). Nodal metastasis effect on survival remained significant ( P < .039) in stratified survival analysis except for T3 lesions ( P = .205). Conclusions: Survival in patients with SCC of either the hard palate or maxillary alveolus is significantly influenced by T-stage and a nonnegligible rate of cervical nodal metastases. Laryngoscope, 119:312-315, 2009 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: We evaluated the efficacy of the application of selective neck dissection to cases of clinically node-positive disease. Methods: We performed a retrospective review at the University of Pittsburgh Head and Neck Cancer Database. A database of 65 patients was followed for an average of 36 months (range, 2 to 128 months) after they underwent selective neck dissection for clinically node-positive regional disease. Results: Regional failure occurred in 8 patients (12.3%). In-field failure was experienced in 4 patients (6.1%), and failures outside the field of dissection occurred in 4 patients (6.1%). The overall incidence of extracapsular spread was 33.8% (22 of 65). Only 2 of 8 regional recurrences were associated with extracapsular spread at the initial neck dissection; however, both recurrences were in the contralateral, undissected side of the neck. Four regional failures were salvaged with surgery, with eventual overall regional control in the neck of 93.9%. Only 1 of 4 ipsilateral recurrences (25%) was successfully salvaged. In contrast, 3 of 4 contralateral failures (75%) were successfully salvaged. In our study population, 21 of 65 cases (32%) that were initially staged as clinically node-positive had no evidence of nodal metastases on pathologic examination. Conclusions: The application of selective neck dissection and postoperative irradiation in patients with clinically N1 and limited N2 clinical disease appears to be oncologically efficacious. Clinical overstaging occurred frequently in this sample, and may put patients at risk for more morbid surgical procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To compare overall survival (OS) outcomes in pN1-3 disease at the time of radical cystectomy (RC) for muscle invasive bladder according to the neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) status. Materials and Methods: This multicenter study included 450 consecutive patients undergoing RC for muscle-invasive urothelial bladder cancer with pN1-3 pM0 disease from 2010 to 2019. NAC consisted in platinum-based chemotherapy. The primary endpoint was the comparison between NAC and non-NAC in terms of death from any cause. OS was assessed using the Kaplan–Meier method and multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression was used to estimate adjusted hazard ratios. Results: Median age was 69 years. Patients receiving NAC were younger (p = 0.051), and more likely had downstaging to non-muscle invasive disease (10.7% versus 4.3%, p = 0.042). Median OS was 26.6 months. NAC patients had poorer OS compared with those who did receive NAC (Hazard ratio (HR) 1.6; p = 0.019). The persistence of muscle-invasive bladder in RC specimens was also significantly associated with OS (HR 2.40). In the NAC cohort, the two factors independently correlated with OS were the number of positive lymph nodes (p = 0.013) and adjuvant chemotherapy (AC) (HR 0.31; p = 0.015). Conclusions: Persistent nodal disease in RC specimens after NAC was associated with poor prognosis and lower OS rates compared with pN1-3 disease after upfront RC. In this sub-group of NAC patients, AC was independently associated with better OS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Rectal resection after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy is the standard of care for rectal cancer. Non-operative management of rectal cancer is the new frontier. Selection of these patients is based on the absence of mucosal disease after neoadjuvant therapy. The question that is quintessential is whether absence of mucosal disease means absence of nodal disease. Aim: To see the correlation between absence of mucosal disease and mesorectal disease in rectal resections after neoadjuvant therapy for rectal cancer. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study was done on 479 patients of locally advanced carcinoma rectum from 2008 to 2015. All patients received neoadjuvant therapy which was mainly long course radiation therapy with 5040cGy over duration of 28 days with concurrent chemotherapy. Some patients underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy. After an interval of approximately 6 weeks they underwent curative surgery. The patients who had complete pathological response were analysed in this study. Results: Out of the 479 patients, 76 patients were found to have no disease in the rectal wall. Only 1 patient (1.3%) had node positive disease without having any rectal disease (T0N1). The rest had no tumour either in the rectum or the mesorectal nodes. Thus, 75 patients had a pathological complete response (15.6%). Conclusion: In patients with rectal cancer undergoing neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy followed by radical resection, absence of tumour in the rectum correlates well with absence of disease in the mesorectum and absence of nodal disease. Thus, absence of mucosal disease can be taken as marker of complete response to neoadjuvant therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]