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CONCLUSIONS: Reduction of distant metastases is essential for better survival. Effective adjuvant chemotherapy should be developed for patients with advanced primary disease (T>2) as well as for patients with advanced nodal status (N>0 or PLN>2). OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to identify prognostic factors for hypopharyngeal cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In all, 142 previously untreated patients were analyzed retrospectively; 75% of the cases were stage III or IV. Surgical resection was administered as primary treatment to 116 of the patients (82%), while 26 patients (18%) underwent primary radiotherapy. RESULTS: The cause-specific 5-year actuarial survival was 46.3%. Distant metastases were the most frequent (23%) cause of failure, followed by local recurrence (15%), and regional recurrence (13%). Cox's regression analysis showed that the significant factors affecting cause-specific survival were N classification, T classification, number of pathological lymph node metastases (PLN), lymphatic invasion, and positive surgical margin. Similarly, T classification and PLN affected distant metastases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CONCLUSIONS: Endoscopic intranasal dacryocystorhinostomy (DCR) has the following advantages over external surgery: pain and hemorrhage are minimal; postoperative facial swelling and scarring are absent; and symptoms resolve rapidly after surgery. Furthermore, as no significant differences in postoperative results were apparent between external and endoscopic intranasal DCR, and because no facial skin incision is required, the clinical usefulness of endoscopic intranasal DCR is high. OBJECTIVES: In the treatment of nasolacrimal duct obstruction or chronic dacryocystitis in which epiphora or ocular discharge are chief complaints, endoscopic intranasal DCR is a safe, easy, minimally invasive, and reliable approach. In the present study, we describe the surgical procedures, techniques, and results of endoscopic intranasal DCR, and investigate its clinical usefulness. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The subjects were 21 patients with nasolacrimal duct obstruction who underwent a total of 24 endoscopic intranasal DCR procedures. Etiologies of the obstruction were, respectively, cryptogenic (62.5%), secondary to partial maxillectomy (16.7%), complication of sinus surgery (12.5%), and due to underlying disease--Wegener's granulomatosis (4.2%) or nasal T-cell lymphoma (4.2%). To assess the clinical usefulness of this procedure, postoperative courses were assessed by reviewing medical records and conducting telephone interviews. In addition, to assess the therapeutic effects, postoperative results were statistically compared to those of external DCR. RESULTS: Closure of the surgical opening was seen in two cases (8.3%). In both cases, after the closed region was opened using an endoscopic procedure, symptoms resolved. Finally, lacrimal passage obstruction was not observed by lacrimal irrigation in any patient. None of the patients in the present study experienced major complications during or after surgery, and since their symptoms improved, the degree of satisfaction was high. When compared to external DCR, endoscopic intranasal DCR showed no statistically significant difference in postoperative results, thus confirming that similar therapeutic effects could be obtained for the two procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A case of parathyroid adenoma causing a spontaneous cervical hematoma is reported. A 55-year-old woman presented with painful swallowing, dysphagia, and dyspnea. Primary hyperparathyroidism and a parathyroid tumor on the left side of the neck had been found 2 years earlier. Fiberoptic laryngoscopy and computed tomography (CT) showed a narrowing of the airway as a result of a retropharyngeal hematoma, and tracheostomy was carried out. Parathyroidectomy was performed 5 months after the absorption of the hematoma, with no complications. A pathological diagnosis revealed a parathyroid adenoma with hemosiderin deposition and fibrosis. Serum calcium and intact parathormone levels normalized postoperatively. Although a spontaneous cervical hematoma resulting from parathyroid tumors rarely occurs, it may lead to an airway compromise. Physicians should be aware of this if such tumors are managed conservatively without surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CONCLUSION: Tumors developing into the muscle layer and tumor thickness > or =5 mm are the most important risk factors associated with nodal metastasis. OBJECTIVE: It is necessary to identify the risk factors associated with cervical metastasis in patients with oral floor cancer to reveal the role of elective neck dissection for oral floor cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Forty-eight patients with oral floor cancer were retrospectively analyzed for a correlation between clinicopathologic factors and cervical lymph node metastasis using Fisher's exact test and a logistic regression test. RESULTS: Univariate analysis showed significantly positive correlations for growth type, mitosis, perineural invasion, vascular invasion, lymphatic invasion, depth, thickness, and infiltration growth ratio. Multivariate analysis had a significantly positive correlation with nest formation and depth in all patients, and with thickness in patients with T1 or T2. In patients with bilateral cervical lymph node metastasis, lymph node metastasis was significantly positively correlated with perineural invasion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We synthesized Y–Fe–O ultrafine particles that contained YFe(3+x)O1.5(4+x), h-YFeO3, ϵ-Fe2O3, and γ-Fe2O3, by using an rf Ar–O2 thermal plasma evaporation method. The particles were characterized by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM)/selected-area diffraction (SAD), inductively coupled plasma emission spectroscopy (ICP-ES), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) and Mo¨ssbauer spectrometry. YFe(3+x)O1.5(4+x) is a new compound that has not yet been registered in the Powder Diffraction File (PDF) database. Because YFe(3+x)O1.5(4+x) has a long-period, face-centered cubic structure, the maximum XRD peak was indexed by (444). The magnetic hysteresis loop measurements done by VSM showed that the particles contained either ferri- or ferromagnetic compounds. γ-Fe2O3 affected the saturation magnetization of the particles. However, we could not determine whether YFe(3+x)O1.5(4+x) is a ferri- or ferromagnetic compound, by using XRD, VSM, or Mo¨ssbauer spectrometry. Therefore, the magnetic properties of YFe(3+x)O1.5(4+x) should be further investigated. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: Nivolumab paved a new way in the treatment of patients with recurrent or metastatic (RM) head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (RM-HNSCC). However, the limited rates of long-term survivors (< 20%) demand a robust prognostic biomarker. This nationwide multi-centric prospective study aimed to identify a plasma exosome (PEX) mRNA signature, which serves as a companion diagnostic of nivolumab and provides a biological clue to develop effective therapies for a majority of non-survivors., Methods: Pre-treatment plasmas ( N = 104) of RM-HNSCC patients were subjected to comprehensive PEX mRNA analyses for prognostic marker discovery and validation. In parallel, paired treatment-naïve tumor and plasma samples ( N = 20) were assayed to elucidate biological implications of the PEX mRNA signature., Results: Assays for pre-treatment blood samples ( N = 104) demonstrated that a combination of 6 candidate PEX mRNAs plus neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio precisely distinguished non-survivors from >2-year survivors (2-year OS; 0% vs 57.7%; P = 0.000124) with a high hazard ratio of 2.878 (95% CI 1.639-5.055; P = 0.0002348). Parallel biological assays demonstrated that in the paired treatment-naïve HNSCC tumor and plasma samples ( N = 20), PEX HLA-E mRNA (a non-survivor-predicting marker) was positively corelated with overexpression of HLA-E protein ( P = 0.0191) and the dense population of tumor-infiltrating NK cells ( P = 0.024) in the corresponding tumor, suggesting that the HLA-E-NKG2A immune checkpoint may inhibit the antitumor effect of PD-1blockade., Conclusion: The PEX mRNA signature could be useful as a companion diagnostic of nivolumab. The combination of an anti-NKG2A antibody (i.e., monalizumab) and nivolumab may serve as a treatment option for non-survivors predicted by a RT-qPCR-based pre-treatment measurement of PEX mRNAs., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2025 Sato, Toh, Murakami, Nakano, Hongo, Matsuo, Hashimoto, Sugasawa, Yamazaki, Ueki, Nakashima, Uryu, Ono, Umeno, Ueda, Kano, Tsukahara, Watanabe, Ota, Monden, Iwae, Maruo, Asada, Hanai, Sano, Ozawa, Asakage, Fukusumi and Masuda.)

Background/aim: Measures to control adverse events (AEs) in the use of oral multi-kinase inhibitors (OMI) are important for the continuation of treatment., Patients and Methods: In this study, oncology pharmacists monitored symptoms of patients receiving outpatient therapy with OMIs in real-time using a smartphone Web app for the early detection/early treatment of AEs. This feasibility study evaluated the effects of using the app in 10 patients compared with data from 10 patients who did not use the app., Results: In the app group, grade 3 AEs were reported in all patients on the day of their occurrence. In contrast, in the no-app group, it took 1-22 days for pharmacists to detect these AEs, among whom 2 patients needed emergency consultations and admissions due to grade 3 AEs. In the app group, 1 patient had an emergency consultation, without admission. The percentage of patients requiring 10 minutes or more for symptom checking during the interview before the physician's examination was significantly lower (p=0.001), and the frequency of telephone calls was also significantly lower (p=0.029) in the app group compared to the no app group., Conclusion: Using the Web app facilitates the early detection of AEs, contributing to reducing the need for emergency consultations and admissions, and minimizing the time pharmacists spend confirming symptoms with patients., (Copyright © 2025, International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. George J. Delinasios), All rights reserved.)

Background: Follicular adenomas with papillary architecture are rare tumors of thyroid origin and are composed of completely encapsulated follicular cells with a papillary architecture lacking the nuclear characteristics of papillary carcinoma. Herein, we present a case of follicular adenoma with papillary architecture originating from an ectopic thyroid gland, diagnosed from a mass in the submandibular region., Case Presentation: A 70-year-old woman was referred to our hospital with the chief complaint of a painless left submandibular mass that had been present for one year. The patient underwent left submandibular dissection for therapy and diagnosis. Microscopically, papillary lesions with fibrovascular cores were observed in the interior, and the epithelial cells were cylindrical in shape with eosinophilic cytoplasm, round or oval nuclei, with no pathological features, leading to a diagnosis of papillary carcinoma or follicular carcinoma. The mass was diagnosed as a follicular thyroid adenoma with papillary architecture. This is the first report of a follicular adenoma with a papillary architecture originating from an ectopic thyroid gland., Conclusion: This experience suggests that follicular adenoma should be included in the differential diagnosis of ectopic thyroid tumors., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Objectives: In recent years, an increase in oral cancer among elderly nonsmokers has been noted. The aim of this study was to identify novel oncogenes in oral cancer in older nonsmokers., Material and Methods: Whole-exome sequencing (WES) data from 324 oral cancer patients were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas. Single nucleotide variants (SNVs) and insertions/deletions (INDELs) were extracted from the WES data of older patients. Fisher's exact test was performed to determine the specificity of variants in these genes. Finally, SNVs and INDELs were identified by target enrichment sequencing., Results: Gene ontology analysis of 112 genes with significant SNVs or INDELs in nonsmokers revealed that nonsynonymous SNVs in HECTD4 were significantly more frequent in nonsmokers than in smokers by target enrichment sequencing (p = .02)., Conclusions: Further investigation of the function of HECTD4 variants as oncogenes in older nonsmokers is warranted., (© 2023 The Authors. Clinical and Experimental Dental Research published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Objective: Falls are one of the most common complications of a stroke. This study aimed to clarify the discrepancy between the perceived fall risk of hospitalized patients with stroke and the clinical judgment of physical therapists and to examine the changes in discrepancy during hospitalization. Design: Retrospective cohort study. Patients: This study included 426 patients with stroke admitted to a Japanese convalescent rehabilitation hospital between January 2019 and December 2020. Methods: The Falls Efficacy Scale-International was used to assess both patients' and physical therapists' perception of fall risk. The difference in Falls Efficacy Scale-International scores assessed by patients and physical therapists was defined as the discrepancy in fall risk, and its association with the incidence of falls during hospitalization was investigated. Results: Patients had a lower perception of fall risk than physical therapists at admission ( p < 0.001), and this trend continued at discharge ( p < 0.001). The discrepancy in fall risk perception was reduced at discharge for non-fallers and single fallers ( p < 0.001), whereas the difference remained in multiple fallers. Conclusion: Unlike physical therapists, patients underestimated their fall risk, especially patients who experienced multiple falls. These results may be useful for planning measures to prevent falls during hospitalization., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Inoue, Otaka, Horimoto, Shirooka, Sugasawa and Kondo.)

Background: A multicenter, randomized controlled phase III trial was conducted on sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) and elective neck dissection for T1 (depth of invasion ≥ 4 mm)-T2N0M0 oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma. This study identified factors associated with poor prognosis in patients who underwent SLNB based on a subgroup analysis of this trial., Methods: We analyzed 418 sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) from 132 patients who underwent SLNB. The metastatic SLNs were classified into three categories based on size-isolated tumor cells: < 0.2 mm, micrometastasis: ≥ 0.2 mm and < 2 mm, and macrometastasis: ≥ 2 mm. Three groups were formed based on the number of metastatic SLNs: no metastasis, 1 metastatic node, and ≥ 2 metastatic nodes. The size and number of metastatic SLNs on survival were evaluated using Cox proportional hazard models., Results: Patients with macrometastasis and ≥ 2 metastatic SLNs had worse overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) after adjustment for potential confounders (HR for OS: macrometastasis, 4.85; 95% CI 1.34-17.60; ≥ 2 metastatic SLN, 3.63; 95% CI 1.02-12.89; HR for DFS: macrometastasis, 2.94; 95% CI 1.16-7.44; ≥ 2 metastatic SLN, 2.97; 95% CI 1.18-7.51)., Conclusions: In patients who underwent SLNB, a poorer prognosis was associated with macrometastasis or having ≥ 2 metastatic SLNs., (© 2023. The Author(s) under exclusive licence to Japan Society of Clinical Oncology.)

Background:  The depth of invasion (DOI) of tongue squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is an important prognostic factor. The definition is clear for pathological DOI (pDOI), but the treatment strategy is determined by the preoperative clinical DOI (cDOI). Few studies have investigated the difference between these DOIs. The purpose of this study was to obtain the correlation equation between cDOI and pDOI for Stage I/II tongue SCC and to consider the points to be noted in actual clinical practice., Methods:  In this retrospective study, 58 patients with clinical stage I/II tongue SCC were included. Correlations between cDOI and pDOI were obtained for all 58 cases, as well as for 39 cases which excluded superficial and exophytic lesions., Results:  The overall cDOI and pDOI median values were 8.0 and 5.5 mm, respectively; the 2.5 mm reduction was significant (p < 0.01). The correlation equation was pDOI = 0.81 × cDOI-0.23 (r = 0.73). Furthermore, re-analysis of the 39 cases revealed that pDOI = 0.84 × cDOI-0.37 (r = 0.62). Hence, a derived equation pDOI = 0.84 × (cDOI-0.44) was obtained to predict pDOI from cDOI., Conclusions:  This study indicated that it is necessary to consider contraction due to specimen fixation by subtracting the thickness of the mucosal epithelium. Clinical T1 cases with a cDOI of 5 mm or less had a pDOI of 4 mm or less, and it would be expected to have low positive rate of neck lymph node metastasis., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright © 2023, Hamada et al.)

Nivolumab, an immune checkpoint inhibitor is the first-line therapy for platinum-resistant recurrent/metastatic head and neck cancer, and highly effective for some patients. However, no factors have been identified that could predict response or prognosis after nivolumab administration. We retrospectively investigated the association between tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) of initial pathology and prognosis in patients treated with nivolumab. Twenty-eight patients with human papilloma virus and Epstein-Barr virus unrelated head and neck squamous cell carcinoma were enrolled. CD8 + cells, FoxP3 + cells and FoxP3 - CD4 + cells in the tumoral and peritumoral stromal area and PD-L1 were measured. In result, FoxP3 - CD4 + TIL, FoxP3 + TIL, and CD8 + TIL were not correlated with survival in either intratumoral and stromal area. In univariate analysis, objective response was significant prognostic factor both in progression-free survival and overall survival (p = 0.01, 0.006, respectively). PD-L1 was also significant prognostic factor both in progression-free survival and overall survival (p = 0.01, 0.01, respectively). ECOG Performance status was a significant prognostic factor in overall survival (p = 0.0009). In the combined analysis of stromal CD8 + TIL and PD-L1, PD-L1 positive with high stromal CD8 + TIL subgroups had a better prognosis than PD-L1 negative with low stromal CD8 + TIL subgroups in progression-free survival (p = 0.006). Although these results require a further investigation, PD-L1 and ECOG Performance status and the combination of stromal CD8 + TIL and PD-L1 positivity have potential as useful prognostic markers in patients of virus unrelated head and neck squamous cell carcinoma treated with nivolumab., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

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)., (Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)