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The aim of this paper is to describe a safe and effective surgical technique for neck dissection under local anesthesia. An increasing number of patients cannot undergo general anesthesia due to systemic complication arising from old age. Moreover, the long-term survival of patients with recurrent or metastatic cancer due to advances in chemotherapy has increased the necessity of neck dissection under local anesthesia. Appropriate pain control and selection of medical devices are important factors for success of the surgery under local anesthesia. In addition to the usual subcutaneous infiltration anesthesia for pain control, nerve blocks for each cervical nerve encountered during surgery are extremely effective. Since muscle relaxants are not available, sharp devices such as knife or scissors, instead of electric scalpel, should be used to prevent unexpected muscle contractions caused by electric current. This video presents well-proven techniques and technical tips for superselective neck dissection under local anesthesia., (© 2022 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Background: Lymph node metastasis with extranodal extension represents one of the most important adverse prognostic factors for survival in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. We propose that extranodal extension occurs to differing extents. The aim of this study was to determine the prognostic significance of extranodal extension in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma., Methods: Two hundred and ninety-eight patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma who underwent surgical resection and neck dissection were included. Cervical lymph nodes were classified into four categories: (i) pathological N negative, (ii) extranodal extension negative, (iii) non-surgical extranodal extension and (iv) surgical extranodal extension., Results: Lymph node metastases were detected in 67.1% of laryngeal/hypopharyngeal cancer patients and 52.7% of oral cancer patients. The 3-year disease-specific survival rates for patients in the pathological N negative, extranodal extension negative, non-surgical extranodal extension and surgical extranodal extension groups were 90.9%, 79.6%, 63.8% and 48.3%, respectively. In laryngeal/hypopharyngeal cancer patients, surgical extranodal extension was associated with a significantly poorer disease-specific survival than a pathological N negative, extranodal extension negative or non-surgical extranodal extension status. In oral cancer patients, no significant differences were observed between the non-surgical and surgical extranodal extension groups. However, non-surgical extranodal extension was associated with a poorer disease-specific survival than a pathological N negative or extranodal extension negative status., Conclusions: Surgical extranodal extension was a poor prognostic factor in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. The prognostic significance of surgical extranodal extension differed between laryngeal/hypopharyngeal and oral cancer patients. The clinical significance of surgical extranodal extension was much greater for patients with laryngeal/hypopharyngeal cancer than oral cancer., (© The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Objective: A recent study identified a survival benefit with prophylactic neck dissection (ND) at the time of primary surgery as compared with watchful waiting followed by therapeutic neck dissection for nodal relapse, in patients with cN0 oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Alternative management of cN0 neck cancer is recommended to minimize the adverse effects of ND, indicating the need for sentinel node biopsy (SNB) and limited neck dissection. We conducted a multicenter Phase II study to examine the feasibility of SNB for clinically N0 OSCC., Methods: Previously untreated N0 OSCC patients (n=57) with clinical late-T2 or T3 tumors were enrolled across 10 institutions. SNB navigated with multislice frozen section analysis of sentinel nodes (SNs) and SNB supported sentinel node lymphatic basin dissection (SN basin dissection) were performed in a one-stage procedure. The endpoint was to investigate the rate of false-negative metastases after SN basin dissection and SNB alone., Results: Most tumors were late-T2 lesions (n=50; 87.7%). SNs were identified in all patients. A total of 196 SNs were detected. Among these SNs, 35 (17.8%) were positive for metastasis (9 in level I, 12 in level II, 12 in level III, 1 in level V and 2 in the contralateral region of the neck). The false-negative rate of SNB supported by SN basin dissection and SNB alone was 4.5% and 9.1%, respectively. The concordance of the SN status in intraoperative frozen sections with the permanent histopathology was 97.4% (191/196). The sensitivity and specificity of intraoperative pathological evaluation were 85.7% (30/35) and 100% (30/30), respectively. The 3-year overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival was 89.5% and 82.5%, respectively. The OS of SN-negative patients was significantly longer than that of SN-positive patients (P=0.047)., Conclusion: The current study verified that SN basin dissection was a useful back-up procedure for SNB performed as a one-stage procedure, showing a low false-negative rate. SNB alone is an appropriate staging method for patients with clinical N0 staging, and a reliable procedure to determine the appropriate levels for neck dissection., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Conclusion: In regard to the treatment of carcinoid tumor of the larynx, irradiation is not effective and tumor excision with a minimum surgical margin is associated with a high risk of local recurrence. Lymph node metastases to the neck are associated with worsening of the prognosis. To improve the survival rate, primary resection with a sufficient surgical margin (e.g. partial laryngectomy) and (elective) neck dissection is recommended, even for patients with early stage carcinoid tumors of the larynx., Objective: The objective of this study was to clarify the prognostic factors, modalities of treatment for the primary lesions, and importance of neck dissection in the treatment of carcinoid tumors of the larynx., Patients and Methods: The data of 33 cases of carcinoid of the larynx reported from Japan (including 2 of our cases) were analyzed., Results: The distributions of the T and N classifications of the lesions were as follows T1, 50.0%; T2, 32.2%; T3, 14.3%; T4, 3.6%; N0, 57.1%; N1, 17.9%; N2, 25.0%; and N3, 0%. Fifteen patients underwent radiation therapy, of whom five underwent curative radiotherapy. While complete remission (CR) was maintained in one of these patients (T1N0), the remaining four patients developed recurrence. Five patients underwent preoperative radiation therapy. The response to the treatment was rated as no change in four patients and as progressive disease in the remaining one patient. Among the patients with N0 disease, seven patients (43.8%) developed lymph node metastases in the neck postoperatively. Distant metastases were the most frequent cause of death in the patients. The 3-year, 5-year, and 10-year survival rates of the patients were 58.5%, 36.5%, and 12.2%, respectively. Significant differences were recognized in the survival rates between patients with and without neck lymph node involvement at the first treatment (p=0.008), and between patients with and without postoperative lymph node recurrence in the neck (p=0.037).

Only 16 cases of bilateral chylothorax following neck dissection have been reported within 10 decades. In this paper, three cases of bilateral chylothorax which developed after neck dissection are reported. In all cases, conservative treatment resulted in resolution of the condition. Diagnosis may be delayed in those who are on total parenteral nutrition, and therefore particular attention should be paid to those patients. It may be difficult to treat cases of chylothorax that develop following neck dissection performed after radiotherapy.

We evaluated the usefulness and limitations in ultrasonography (US) for diagnosing neck lymph node metastases in patients with hypopharyngeal cancer by comparing the results of preoperative US examinations with postoperative pathological findings following neck dissection. Seventy-five previously untreated patients with hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma underwent a curative procedure that included neck dissection. Preoperatively, all patients were examined by palpation, computed tomography (CT), and US. Postoperatively, all dissected neck lymph nodes were submitted for pathological examination. Results of pre-and postoperative examinations were then compared. US accuracy for each lymph node was 93.9%, while sensitivity was 78.0%, since hypopharyngeal cancer metastasizes early and easily to the neck lymph nodes, and it is difficult to detect small, pathologically positive nodes. Nine of 75 cases showed latent neck recurrence, and two of these were underestimated by US. The major cause for neck recurrence was considered to be the high rate of metastases in such cases, rather than a reduced dissection field. It is not rare to find very small, pathologically positive lymph nodes that US cannot detect in hypopharyngeal cancer. Efforts must therefore be expanded to improve the accuracy of US diagnosis. Care must also be taken when selecting cases for no or limited neck dissection.

The indication and preferred dissection field for prophylactic neck dissection for submandibular gland cancer are controversial and have not been standardized. We reviewed 27 patients who underwent a definitive operation for previously untreated submandibular gland cancer. The 27 patients consisted of 13 patients with adenoid cystic carcinoma, 6 patients with mucoepidermoid carcinoma, 6 patients with adenocarcinoma, and 2 patients with squamous cell carcinoma. The diagnostic accuracies of malignancy and histology with fine needle aspiration cytology were 86% and 56%, respectively. In sixteen out of 21 cases without neck lymph node metastasis, a prophylactic neck dissection was performed and pathological neck lymph node metastases were detected in five cases. On the other hand, in five cases that did not receive a prophylactic neck dissection, latent neck lymph node metastasis was observed in 2 cases. In both cases of neck lymph node metastasis, pathological positive lymph nodes were observed in only level 2 or level 3. The rates of occult neck lymph node metastasis according to the T stage were 0% in T1, 33.3% in T2, 57.1% in T3 and 100% in T4. The rates of occult neck lymph node metastasis according to the histopathology were 46.2% in adenoid cystic carcinoma, 50% in mucoepidermoid carcinoma, 50% in adenocarcinoma, and 50% in squamous cell carcinoma. In conclusion, we believe that supraomyohoid neck dissection is suitable for N0 cases of submandibular gland cancer because of four reasons: 1) rate of occult neck lymph node metastasis in submandibular gland cancer is high, 2) pathological neck lymph node metastasis in N0 cases and latent neck lymph node metastasis were observed in level 2 and level 3, 3) the prognosis of cases with neck lymph node metastasis was poor, and 4) same skin incision can be used not only for the primary resection but also for the neck dissection.

Background: Salivary gland carcinomas harboring anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) rearrangements are rare. Here, we present the pathological characteristics, clinical course, and changes in the genetic status of a salivary gland carcinoma harboring a catenin alpha 1 (CTNNA1)::ALK rearrangement during treatment with an ALK tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI). Methods: A 59‐year‐old man with a parotid tumor and cervical lymph node metastases underwent total parotidectomy and radical neck dissection. One month after completion of postoperative radiotherapy, the patient experienced multiple recurrences. Results: Subsequent treatment with the ALK‐TKI alectinib was initially effective against the intraductal carcinoma harboring CTNNA1::ALK rearrangement and TP53 mutation. However, 10 months later the patients' condition deteriorated, and an additional phosphatidylinositol‐4,5‐bisphosphate 3‐kinase catalytic subunit alpha (PIK3CA) mutation was detected. The patient ultimately succumbed to multiple organ failure. Conclusion: The clinical course suggested the concurrent emergence of TP53 and PIK3CA mutations and ALK‐TKI drug‐selective growth of non‐ALK rearrangement gene tumor cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This sentinel node (SN) biopsy trial aimed to assess its effectiveness in identifying predictive factors of micrometastases and to determine whether elective neck dissection is necessary in oral squamous cell carcinoma. This retrospective study included 55 patients from three previous trials, with positive SNs. The relationship between the sizes of the metastatic focus and metastasis in non-sentinel node (NSN) was investigated. Four of the 55 largest metastatic focus were isolated tumor cells, and the remaining 51 were ranged from 0.2 to 15 mm, with a median of 2.6 mm. The difference of prevalence between 46 negative- and 9 positive-NSN was statistically significant with regard to age, long diameter of primary site and number of cases with regional recurrence. In comparing the size of largest metastatic focus dividing the number of positive SN, with metastaic focus range of < 3.0 mm in one-positive SN group, there were 18 (33%) negative-NSN and no positive-NSN. Regarding prognosis, 3-year overall survival rate of this group (n = 18) and other (n = 37) were 94% and 73% (p = 0.04), and 3-year recurrence free survival rate of this group and other were 94% and 51% (p = 0.03), respectively. Absolutely a further prospective clinical trial would be needed, micrometastases may be defined as solitary SN metastasis with < 3.0 mm of metastatic focus, and approximately 33% of neck dissections could be avoided using these criteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although total laryngectomy is the standard treatment for advanced laryngeal cancer, the significance of elective neck dissection (END) for N0 laryngeal cancer remains unclear in Japan, which is an aging society. Methods: We conducted a retrospective nationwide observational study on patients with T3–T4N0 laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma treated with curative total laryngectomy from 2011 to 2018 in Japan. Results: A total of 1,218 patients were analyzed. The median patient age was 72 years, with 735 cases of T3N0 and 483 cases of T4N0. END was performed on the affected side in 850 patients (70%) and on the contralateral side in 502 patients (41.2%). END on the affected side was omitted in patients aged > 80 years (40.4%) and in patients with an advanced performance status. The occult lymph-node metastasis rate did not differ by age (18.8%–19.6%); it tended to increase chronologically from 2011 (11.1%) and was higher in cT4a (22.5%) and pT4a (24.3%) cases. In this study, coherent clinical information and follow-up data were available for 252 patients. Both univariate and multivariate analyses showed no significant prognostic factors for overall survival or recurrence-free survival for either affected or contralateral END. Older age and subglottic location were poor prognostic factors, but death due to factors other than laryngeal cancer could not be ignored in older patients. Conclusion: Omission of END during laryngectomy for T3–T4N0 laryngeal cancer is acceptable for older patients who want their operation to be completed in a short time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conclusion. In regard to the treatment of carcinoid tumor of the larynx, irradiation is not effective and tumor excision with a minimum surgical margin is associated with a high risk of local recurrence. Lymph node metastases to the neck are associated with worsening of the prognosis. To improve the survival rate, primary resection with a sufficient surgical margin (e.g. partial laryngectomy) and (elective) neck dissection is recommended, even for patients with early stage carcinoid tumors of the larynx. Objective. The objective of this study was to clarify the prognostic factors, modalities of treatment for the primary lesions, and importance of neck dissection in the treatment of carcinoid tumors of the larynx. Patients and methods. The data of 33 cases of carcinoid of the larynx reported from Japan (including 2 of our cases) were analyzed. Results. The distributions of the T and N classifications of the lesions were as follows T1, 50.0%; T2, 32.2%; T3, 14.3%; T4, 3.6%; N0, 57.1%; N1, 17.9%; N2, 25.0%; and N3, 0%. Fifteen patients underwent radiation therapy, of whom five underwent curative radiotherapy. While complete remission (CR) was maintained in one of these patients (T1N0), the remaining four patients developed recurrence. Five patients underwent preoperative radiation therapy. The response to the treatment was rated as no change in four patients and as progressive disease in the remaining one patient. Among the patients with N0 disease, seven patients (43.8%) developed lymph node metastases in the neck postoperatively. Distant metastases were the most frequent cause of death in the patients. The 3-year, 5-year, and 10-year survival rates of the patients were 58.5%, 36.5%, and 12.2%, respectively. Significant differences were recognized in the survival rates between patients with and without neck lymph node involvement at the first treatment (p=0.008), and between patients with and without postoperative lymph node recurrence in the neck (p=0.037). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The localization pattern of metastatic sentinel lymph node (SN) and non-SNs and pathologic analysis of metastatic lymph nodes in SN lymphatic basin dissection (SLBD) were investigated in patients with cT2/T3cN0 oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC).Methods: This prospective multicenter trial involved 10 institutions nationwide in Japan. A total of 57 patients were enrolled. The lateral neck was divided into 5 lymphatic basins. The lymphatic basin containing SNs was defined as the SN lymphatic basin. All patients underwent SLBD with backup selective neck dissection (I-III) combined with primary tumor removal. When SNs were found outside of levels I-III, including in the contralateral neck, SLBD was performed by removing the compartments containing SNs separately. SN metastasis was classified as isolated tumor cells (ITCs), micrometastasis, or macrometastasis. ITCs are defined as a lesion no larger than 0.2 mm in largest dimension and are classified as pN0.Results: SN metastasis was observed in 22 cases. All metastatic lymph nodes, including false-negative cases, were detected in the SN lymphatic basin. Isolated tumor cells in the SNs did not affect prognosis, whereas micrometastasis tended to have poor prognosis. After adjusting for other risk factors, a positive SN remained a significant predictor of poor 5-year overall survival in pT2-4 OSCC.Conclusion: SLBD for intraoperative SN biopsy is a sufficient therapeutic procedure and is valuable for determining pathologic nodal stage in OSCC. SN positivity was demonstrated to be an independent predictor of poor prognosis in patients with pT2-4 disease undergoing SLBD with backup selective neck dissection (I-III). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]