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Extent of central neck dissection in the patients with thyroid carcinoma

The first level of lymphatic spread in well-differentiated thyroid carcinoma is to the central compartment of the neck, namely, the paratracheal, prelaryngeal and pretracheal lymph nodes. Central neck dissection may carry an increased morbidity, namely, hypoparathyroidism and recurrent laryngeal nerve...

Head and neck radiation and the brain

An increasing number of patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma and other lesions are treated with high dose radiotherapy. An increase in survival rates is being reported along with a younger patient demographic. The long-term effects of treatment...

Laryngeal cleft in a 66-year-old man!

This is a fascinating case report of a 66-year-old man who presented with a carcinoma of the piriform sinus. During chemoradiotherapy, he developed dyspnoea, dysphagia and aspiration pneumonia. His chemoradiotherapy was stopped and he underwent a pharygnolaryngectomy. When the surgical...

Delays in oral cancer

This is a review from Canada where they attempt to relate delays in oral cancer presentation to treatment and the impact on stage, diagnosis and survival. They recognise that potentially the most significant delay is between the patient first noticing...

Significance of abnormal retropharyngeal nodes in head and neck cancer

Abnormal retropharyngeal lymph nodes (RLN) have prognostic relevance for patients with oral, oropharyngeal or nasopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). However, consensus on the evaluation and management of abnormal RLN in these patients is lacking. The authors of this paper provided...

Surviving oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma – does subsite matter?

Human papilloma virus (HPV) status is a known prognostic factor in oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC). The eighth edition of American Joint Cancer Committee (AJCC) has modified the TNM staging to reflect this. However, subsite as an independent prognostic factor...

What is the right balance to strike in the management of anaplastic thyroid cancer?

This is a pragmatic article on a difficult and much debated subject. Management of anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) can feel like making decisions between a rock and a hard place, and this article suggests one path to help navigate some...

Structures determining T4a, T4b

This paper for tertiary cancer centre in India attempted to determine whether patients with T4b oral cancers involving the 'masticator space' should be treated with survival intent comparable to T4a cancers. Over a 7-year period, 30 patients with T4b cancers...

Pre-habilitation in head and neck cancer – a literature review to guide best practice

Curative treatment of head and neck cancer (HNC) often requires surgery; however, outcomes are impacted by the complexity of the surgery and the patient population. Increasingly ‘Enhanced Recovery After Surgery’ (ERAS) protocols are being used to maximise patient outcomes and...

Transoral laser microsurgery (TLM)

This review article describes the surgical technique of transoral laser microsurgery (TLM) for the piecemeal removal of tumours of the upper aerodigestive tract using carbon dioxide laser. This technique gained acceptance after Wolfgang Steiner published his paper on the treatment...

In the United States, do people with dysphagia have a higher chance of being dysphonic?

Dysphagia and dysphonia can co-occur due to their shared anatomy and physiology. Previous studies have considered this relationship and determined that certain conditions, such as cancer, laryngeal impairments or neurological disorders, may lead to problems with both swallowing and voice....