No abstract

Cigarette smoke in combination with ethanol strongly induced massive cell death. Long-term exposure to smoke and ethanol could provoke chronic inflammation, and this could be the initiation of disease including the development of cancer at various sites.

Overall, CT is the most commonly recommended and used imaging modality for OSCC. Despite availability of national guidelines the type and number of radiological examinations vary between centres within a country, but the implementation of a fast-track programme may facilitate fast access to imaging. The absence of uniform criteria for determining the lymph nodes of the neck as cN+ complicates the comparison of the accuracy of the imaging modalities. Well-defined radiological strategies and criteria are needed to optimise the radiological work-up in OSCC.

ACE-PET appears promising for the staging of head and neck cancer. The biological information provided by both FDG and ACE must be carefully validated before it can be used in clinical routine for radiation treatment planning. More studies are needed to evaluate the differences in volumes and to confirm the clinical potential of both FDG and ACE-PET, especially in radiotherapy.

Objective: This paper aims at studying the influence of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on cancer risk, tumor recurrence, and survival in head and neck (H&N) cancer patients. Methods: A total of 45 SNPs in 41 genes were investigated. A total of 174 Caucasian H&N cancer patients and 245 healthy blood donors were enrolled in the study. Results: Ten SNPs were associated with H&N cancer risk, but the identified SNPs differed among males and females. Some of the SNPs were related to immune response genes. The immune response gene SNPs were also related to survival. In particular, we noted that the tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) rs1800629 could have an influence on cancer risk, tumor recurrence as well as survival. Conclusion: Genetic variation of the TNFα rs1800629 might be useful as a biomarker in clinical decision-making since it was found to be related to cancer risk, tumor recurrence, and survival of H&N cancer patients.