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Aim: The aim of the study is to examine if continuation of smoking after treatment is an independent factor affecting the prognosis of laryngeal cancer. Materials and Methods: A total of 153 patients met the inclusion criteria for this prospective study, and they were followed up for 12–60 months. Smoking cessation/continuation rates were recorded and associated with disease recurrence and overall patient survival. Results: The recurrence rate was 35.29%. Twenty-five percent of the patients continued smoking after treatment, 75% stopped. Of the patients who quit smoking, 28.69% died during the follow-up period, compared to 52.63% of those who continued (p = 0.0047). The respective recurrence rates were 28.7 and 55.26% (p = 0.0022). A stepwise multivariate Cox regression analysis eliminated potential confounders regarding the overall survival rate and confirmed that time between symptom onset and diagnosis, T and N stage and continuation of smoking after treatment are statistically significant factors. Among them, continuation of smoking was found to have the strongest correlation to the overall survival rate. Conclusion: Continuation of smoking after treatment of laryngeal cancer is an independent negative prognostic factor. From a clinical standpoint, all patients with known laryngeal cancer should be strongly encouraged to quit smoking.

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IntroductionPrimary localized laryngeal amyloidosis is an extremely rare condition. It usually presents with hoarseness, pain and/or difficulty in breathing.Case presentationWe present the case of a 23-year-old woman with primary localized laryngeal amyloidosis who presented with hoarseness and dysphagia.ConclusionA search of PubMed shows that dysphagia in patients with laryngeal amyloidosis has been reported only once, although this symptom is relatively common in other conditions presenting with laryngeal mass. There were no signs of any systemic disease in our patient and diagnosis was established histopathologically. She was treated surgically by microlaryngoscopy under general anesthesia and the mass was excised using a CO2 laser technology method.

Inverted papilloma is a rare benign sinonasal tumour, characterized by a potentially invasive nature. The lateral nasal wall represents the most common site of origin, whereas paranasal sinuses are quite frequently found to be involved by extension. In contrast, primary sinus inverted papillomas have rarely been reported. The present study describes an extremely rare case of inverted papilloma, isolated to the left sphenoid sinus, that was treated by a transnasal endoscopic procedure. The therapeutic approach chosen is discussed and the results of a two-year follow-up are also presented.

We found a high level of expression of substance P and vasoactive intestinal peptide in the nasal mucosa smears of patients suffering from allergic rhinitis. This indicates a role for these neuropeptides in the neuroregulation of immunity and hypersensivity in this disease. Furthermore, expression of heat shock protein 70 may contribute to the development of allergic rhinitis.

We studied 29 patients in the final stage of head or neck cancer who were suffering pain that was not relieved by oral morphine. Cervical or thoracic epidural morphine was administered to relieve the pain. The quality of analgesia was equally good for both techniques. However, cervical epidural administration appeared to be superior, because much smaller doses of morphine were required in order to induce more rapid and longer analgesia.