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Background: The involvement of the thyroarytenoid (TA) muscle by glottic cancer may be related to an impaired vocal cord mobility, which is classified as cT2 disease. The primary endpoint was to evaluate the prognostic significance of TA muscle involvement in early glottic cancer treated with transoral laser microsurgery (TLM). Methods: A review was conducted on a cohort of 209 patients consecutively treated with TLM for early glottic carcinoma. Univariate analysis was used to examine the prognostic meaning of clinical and pathological parameters. Results: The statistical analysis showed that TA muscle infiltration correlated significantly with a worse prognosis in terms of recurrence rate and disease‐free survival, and this was confirmed even in the subcohort with pT1a glottic cancer. Conclusions: Our preliminary findings suggest that it could be considered as a criterion for upstaging a glottic cancer from pT1 to pT2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Treatment for local glottic cancer recurrences after primary transoral laser microsurgery (TLM) has not been standardized. Methods In 33 consecutive cases of salvage TLM after laser surgery for early glottic carcinoma failed, we retrospectively considered the potential clinicopathological prognostic factors in univariate statistical setting. Results Patient age <65 years and pathological involvement of the deep margins were associated with a higher second recurrence rate and shorter disease-free survival. Conclusion The age of the patient and the pathological status of surgical margins after salvage TLM could be useful for planning a closer endoscopic/radiological follow-up in selected patients at high risk of recurrence. Other appropriately designed studies are needed to see if an open surgical approach should be considered for younger patients (<65 years old) with recurrent glottic carcinoma after primary TLM. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 38: 1043-1049, 2016 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conclusions: Survivin expression should be studied as a potential hallmark of higher risk oral, oropharyngeal and laryngeal squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) to develop loco-regional recurrences. These outcomes could have a significant impact on both the treatment modalities and the intensity of post-treatment follow-up. Further investigation is necessary before considering elective neck dissection in patients with laryngeal SCC with high survivin expression. Objectives: Functioning simultaneously at cell division and apoptosis inhibition, survivin, a member of the inhibitor of apoptosis proteins family, plays a pivotal role in determining cell survival. Significant over-expression of survivin has been demonstrated in most human malignancies and correlated with more aggressive forms. This review focuses on the attempts to translate survivin biologic properties toward both a diagnostic/prognostic tool and a novel therapeutic target in head and neck SCC (HNSCC). Materials and methods: An exhaustive review of literature was performed to investigate available evidence about survivin expression, biological role and therapeutic potential in HNSCC. Results: Multiple evidence indicates that, in HNSCC cell lines, survivin inhibition by gene therapy and by small molecule inhibitors significantly increases the anti-tumour activity of several cytotoxic and other targeted therapies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conclusions: Our very preliminary results support the hypothesis that MASPIN expression in primary head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) may be a valuable parameter for predicting patients' responses to a treatment based on carboplatin plus vinorelbine combined with radiotherapy. Objectives: The roles of induction chemotherapy and combined chemoradiotherapy in the treatment of locally advanced unresectable HNSCCs have evolved rapidly. MASPIN has a unique tumour-suppressing activity. Experimental evidence has shown that MASPIN suppresses tumour growth, angiogenesis, invasion and metastasis. We investigated the potential prognostic roles of MASPIN and p53 in a series of HNSCCs treated with carboplatin plus vinorelbine combined with radiotherapy. Patients and methods: Nineteen consecutive stage III or IV HNSCC patients were recruited. The treatment plan consisted of the administration of carboplatin on day 1 and vinorelbine on days 1 and 8. Four weeks later, carboplatin was administered concomitantly with radiation therapy. Expression of MASPIN and p53 was determined immunohistochemically in HNSCC diagnostic biopsies. Results: A significant inverse relation was found between MASPIN expression and cN staging (p=0.003). From a prognostic viewpoint, MASPIN expression was directly correlated with chemoradiotherapy response (p=0.041). Moreover, the log-rank test showed a significant relationship between higher MASPIN expression and longer disease-free survival (p=0.03), overall survival (p=0.006) and disease-specific survival (p=0.007). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Conclusion. Nuclear expression of survivin should be studied as a promising marker of higher-risk laryngeal basaloid squamous cell carcinomas (BSCCs), which can then be treated more aggressively and followed more closely. Objective. BSCC is an uncommon bimorphic variant of SCC. The hypothesized greater aggressiveness and poorer prognosis of head and neck BSCC compared to SCC are still under debate. The regulation of apoptotic cell death has a profound effect on the pathogenesis and progression of malignancies. Survivin is the smallest member of the inhibitor of apoptosis gene family. The aim of this study was to investigate for the first time the expression of the inhibitor of apoptosis protein survivin in laryngeal BSCCs and their neck lymph node metastases and to compare the results with those obtained with conventional SCCs. Material and methods. Immunoreactivity to survivin was determined in nine laryngeal BSCCs and nine site- and stage-matched SCCs. Results. A nuclear subcellular localization of survivin dominated in both primary laryngeal BSCCs and SCCs and in their lymph node metastases. There was no significant difference in mean survivin expression between primary laryngeal BSCCs (25.1%) and SCCs (25.6%) ( p =0.86). Nuclear survivin expression was significantly higher in BSCCs associated with disease recurrence and poor prognosis ( p =0.02). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]