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A retrospective analysis is made of 61 patients with clinical and histological diagnosis of pure sarcomas of the jaw treated between 1950 and 1984. Surgery was the treatment of choice in 41 cases. Biopsy or palliative treatment were undertaken in the remaining patients. Twenty-four cases relapsed before 12 months, and 12 relapsed before 3 years. Twenty-four died before 12 months, nine before 2 years, and three after 2 years. At present there is no evidence of disease in eight patients: three out of 25 fibrosarcomas (one more than 1 year, one more than 13 years, and one more than 14 years), three out of 15 chondrosarcomas (one more than 1 year, one more than 13 years, and one more than 14 years), and two out of 15 osteosarcomas (one more than 18 years). The prognosis is gloomy. However, an early diagnosis and radical surgery contribute to an improvement in the course of the disease.

This report covers the authors' experience during 19 years with patients at Buenos Aires Municipal School of Oral, Cervical, and Thyroid Surgery at Rawson Hospital; at the Municipal Hospital of Oncology; and in their private practice. During this period, 165 patients underwent surgery for thyroid cancer. An analysis is made of the surgical treatments chosen, the different histological types encountered, and the lymph node and radical neck dissections performed. The advantages and drawbacks of total thyroidectomy, as well as the survival rates, are commented upon.

In order to establish the response and tolerance to the intraarterial association of cis-platinum and bleomycin, we have treated 38 patients with advanced head and neck cancer with the following dosages: continuous infusion of bleomycin, 20 mg/m2/day on days 1 and 2, and cis-platinum, 100 mg/m2 in a 3-hr infusion on day 3. Each treatment cycle was repeated every 21 days, the duration being conditioned to tolerance and response. All the patients underwent at least one complete series of treatment. The results were as follows: 11 patients (29%) had complete remission, and 22 (58%) had partial remission. No instances were ascertained of local toxicity (stomatitis, dermatitis). Except for 2 patients with reversible facial paralysis and 6 with anemia, no other signs of general toxicity were ascertained. In conclusion, the intraarterial combination of cis-platinum/bleomycin has proved highly effective (87% response) whereas the low index of local and general toxicity renders the drugs suitable for use before surgery and/or radiotherapy.

Because of difficulties encountered in the ligation of the external carotid artery, both anteriorly and retrovascularly (internal jugular vein), we propose a posterior approach based on anatomic principles. This approach to the external carotid artery is especially useful when structural alterations of the anterolateral neck are present. Surgical details are presented in three patients and the results demonstrate its practicability.