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Chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) is an inflammatory disease of the nose and paranasal sinuses characterized by the presence of nasal polyps. The symptoms produced by the presence of nasal polyps such as nasal obstruction, nasal discharge, facial pain, headache, and loss of smell cause a worsening in the quality of life of patients. The source of the nasal polyps remains unclear, although it seems to be due to a chronic inflammation process in the sinonasal mucosa. Fibroblasts, the main cells in connective tissue, are intimately involved in the inflammation processes of various diseases; to this end, we carried out a systematic review to evaluate their inflammatory role in nasal polyps. Thus, we evaluated the main cytokines produced by nasal polyp-derived fibroblasts (NPDF) to assess their involvement in the production of nasal polyps and their involvement in different inflammatory pathways. The results of the review highlight the inflammatory role of NPDF through the secretion of various cytokines involved in the T1, T2, and T3 inflammatory pathways, as well as the ability of NPDF to be stimulated by a multitude of substances. With these findings, the fibroblast is positioned as a new potential therapeutic target in the treatment of CRSwNP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The worldwide incidence rate of laryngeal cancer is declining. However, the 5-year survival for these patients has decreased in recent years from 66% to 63%. This may be due to changes in the treatment of the disease. The present study aimed to evaluate the survival rate of patients with LC according to the stage of the disease and the treatment applied. For this purpose, surgical versus organ preservation protocols (OPP) based on chemoradiotherapy were evaluated. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted in a tertiary hospital. The study included adult patients with a clinical diagnosis of primary LC. Patients with LC and systemic metastases and those with synchronous tumors at diagnosis were excluded. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to determine the association between exposure to LC treatment and the time to event (death). Overall survival (OS), cause-specific survival (CSS), and disease-free survival (DFS) were calculated. Results: Patients with advanced tumors (stages III and IV) had almost three times the risk of LC death than those in the initial tumor stages (I and II) [HR CCS = 2.89 (95%CI 1.30–6.39)]; [HR OS = 2.01 (95%CI 1.35–2.98)]. Patients who underwent surgical treatment had a higher chance of survival than those who were treated according to OPP [HR = 0.62; 95%CI (0.38–1.02)] in CSS, 0.74 [95%CI (0.50–1.90)] in OS, and 0.61 [95%CI (0.40–0.91)] in DFS. Discussion: OPP changed the management of patients with advanced stages of LC, establishing CRT as an alternative to surgery. Our data did not reveal clinically relevant differences in OS between patients treated with OPP and those who underwent surgery; however, we reported differences in the DFS rate after five years of follow-up in favor of the surgery-treated group of patients. Conclusion: Surgical treatment improves CSS and DFS at five years in patients with initial LC with respect to radiation therapy alone. Furthermore, surgical treatment associated with complementary radiation therapy offers better CSS and DFS in patients with advanced LC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, some monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are being studied for chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP). Three anti-IL-5 mAb: mepolizumab, reslizumab and benralizumab, have been tested through randomized clinical trials. In this real-life study, we aimed to describe the nasal effects of a cohort of asthmatic adults treated with anti-IL-5 mAb. Methods: We carried out an observational study in adults (≥18 years) on anti-IL-5 mAb treatment. Variables included ACT and SNOT−22 questionnaires, nasal polyps score, blood total IgE levels and blood eosinophil count. Results: Overall, 38 participants were included in the study; 19 patients received mepolizumab, 17 were treated with benralizumab and 2 patients were given reslizumab. There was a statistically significant difference in the ACT and SNOT−22 scores before and after mAb treatment. ACT score increased from 11.05 to 21.5 after treatment (p < 0.001). SNOT−22 decreased from 57 to 37.3 after treatment (p = 0.004). No statistically significant differences between mAb groups were observed regarding the ACT or the SNOT−22 (p = 0.775) response (p = 0.775). In addition, 60.53% of patients obtained a minimal clinically important difference (MCID) in SNOT−22. Conclusions: A significant clinical response based on SNOT−22 score evolution after anti-IL-5 mAb treatment was observed. This study also demonstrated that blood eosinophil count, rather than serum total IgE levels, is the best predictor of asthma symptom improvement, which was assessed through the ACT and SNOT−22 questionnaires. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although smell and taste disorders are highly prevalent symptoms of COVID-19 infection, the predictive factors leading to long-lasting chemosensory dysfunction are still poorly understood. Methods: 102 out of 421 (24.2%) mildly symptomatic COVID-19 patients completed a second questionnaire about the evolution of their symptoms one year after the infection using visual analog scales (VAS). A subgroup of 69 patients also underwent psychophysical evaluation of olfactory function through UPSIT. Results: The prevalence of chemosensory dysfunction decreased from 82.4% to 45.1% after 12 months, with 46.1% of patients reporting a complete recovery. Patients older than 40 years (OR = 0.20; 95% CI: [0.07, 0.56]) and with a duration of loss of smell longer than four weeks saw a lower odds ratio for recovery (OR = 0.27; 95% CI: [0.10, 0.76]). In addition, 28 patients (35.9%) reported suffering from parosmia, which was associated with moderate to severe taste dysfunction at the baseline (OR = 7.80; 95% CI: [1.70, 35.8]). Among the 69 subjects who underwent the UPSIT, 57 (82.6%) presented some degree of smell dysfunction, showing a moderate correlation with self-reported VAS (r = −0.36, p = 0.0027). Conclusion: A clinically relevant number of subjects reported persistent chemosensory dysfunction and parosmia one year after COVID-19 infection, with a moderate correlation with psychophysical olfactory tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]