As compared with platinum-based chemotherapy plus fluorouracil alone, cetuximab plus platinum-fluorouracil chemotherapy improved overall survival when given as first-line treatment in patients with recurrent or metastatic squamous-cell carcinoma of the head and neck. (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00122460.)

Full-dose reirradiation combined with chemotherapy after salvage surgery significantly improved DFS, but had no significant impact on OS. An increase in both acute and late toxicity was observed.

There is no evidence that one treatment was superior to the other or could improve the outcome reported with ICT followed by RT alone (French Groupe Oncologie Radiothérapie Tête et Cou [GORTEC] 2000-01 trial [Induction CT by Cisplatin, 5FU With or Without Docetaxel in Patients With T3 and T4 Larynx and Hypopharynx Carcinoma]). The protocol that can best compare with RT alone after ICT is still to be determined.

This retrospective study was, to our knowledge, the largest ever reported in the literature. This series confirmed the risk factor of this lesion as well as the lesion's influence on the survival rate. Surgery is the most important part of the treatment. Local recurrences were responsible for the poor prognosis of this lesion.

No abstract

Larynx preservation, progression-free interval, and overall survival were similar in both arms, as were acute and late toxic effects.

Objective: Whether lymph-node dissection (LND) influences the lymph-node recurrence (LNR) risk in patients with papillary thyroid cancer remains controversial. The prognostic impact of macroscopic and microscopic lymph-node involvement at diagnosis is also an unresolved issue. A retrospective study was conducted to assess the influence of various LND procedures and to search for LNR risk factors. Methods: Overall 545 patients without distant metastases prior to surgery and main tumour R10 mm were included. A total thyroidectomy was performed in all patients with either no LND (Group 1, nZ161), bilateral LND of the central and lateral compartments (Group 2, nZ181) or all other dissection modalities (Group 3, nZ203). Post-operative radioiodine was given to 496 (91%) patients. The 10-year cumulative probability of LNR was assessed and a prognostic study using multivariate analysis was performed. Results: Macroscopic lymph-node metastases were present in 118 patients, 57 diagnosed before surgery and 61 only at surgery (including 81% in the central compartment). Overall, the 10-year cumulative probability of LNR was 7%. Macroscopic lymph-node metastases (PZ0.001), extra-thyroidal invasion (PZ0.017) and male gender (PZ0.05) were independent risk factors, while bilateral LND of the central and lateral compartments was protective (PZ0.028). In patients with macroscopic lymph-node metastases, the 10-year probability was lower in Group 2 than in Group 3 (10% vs 30%, P!0.01). In patients without macroscopic lymph-node metastases (nZ427), no significant differences were observed between the three LND groups. Conclusions: Patients with macroscopic, but not microscopic, lymph-node involvement have a major LNR risk and need an optimal LND at primary surgery.

Small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma of the sinonasal tract is an uncommon neoplasm with aggressive clinical behaviour. Recurrence is frequent and the prognosis is poor. However, the current treatment of these neuroendocrine neoplasms varies widely.