A series of 618 patients with neck dissections were performed in 455 consecutively admitted patients with head and neck carcinomas at the Istituto Nazionale Tumori, Milan, from 1976 to 1978. Clinical and pathologic node factors were considered in an effort to correlate lymph node involvement with prognosis. Actuarial survival decreased with the increase in the size of nodes, although no significant difference was found for all categories and the prognosis was poor when nodes were greater than 5 cm and/or hypomobile (33%, 5-year survival). The presence of histologically proven neck metastases significantly reduces the 5-year survival, and the presence of distant metastases correlates directly with the pathologic staging of neck nodes.
We evaluate the 3-year result of 145 oral leukoplakias operated on by outpatient carbon dioxide laser surgery at the Istituto Nazionale Tumori, Milan, Italy. The surgical technique that was used consisted of excision in 140 patients and vaporization in 5 patients. Cancer was found in 14 out of 140 patients who underwent excision (10%). In the analysis of the disease-free survival rate and of the unfavorable pattern of events, only 131 patients with benign postoperative histologic diagnosis were considered. Fifty-eight patients developed unfavorable events. The probabilities of remaining free of disease or of developing local relapses or new lesions at 3-year survival was 0.57, 0.27, and 0.19, respectively. Two patients had oral carcinomas after the operation. Forty patients modified their alcohol or tobacco habits or their teeth and/or prosthesis. Moreover, only two patients modified these factors before the unfavorable events occurred.
Several epidemiologic studies have shown that oral cancer develops among individuals with a prior diagnosis of an oral premalignant lesion. Canceration chance in these patients is 17 %, with the greatest rate occuring in the second year of observation. Based on this data, since 1981, 92 leucoplakias have been treated by out-patient laser surgery at the Istituto Nazionale Tumori of Milano. The therapeutic technique was laser excision to obtain a specimen for histology. Two groups were distinguished according to the diagnostic procedure. Thirtythree lesions (December 1981 to December 1982) were operated on without preliminary histologic examination, on the basis of a simple clinical diagnosis. Since January 1983 all leukoplakias have been biopsied in a systematic way and those negative for cancer treated with laser. Histology of the specimen showed 5 squamous cell carcinomas (15 %) in the group of patients who did not undergo preoperative biopsy. Postoperative histology showed malignancy in 6 of 59 (10.2 %) cases in spite of negative preoperative biopsies. Speckled and erosive leukoplakias had the highest canceration rate. Three of 11 patients with cancer were treated by knife excision or interstitial needle implantation because of margins in tumoral tissue or because they were unvaluable for injury by heat. Results have been satisfactory, only 2 of 54 followed leukoplakias and none of the cancers recurred during a 2 year follow-up.
A series of 113 patients operated on in the period 1980-1989 for a neck recurrence from a head and neck cancer was studied. All patients had no other evidence of disease. The male/female ratio was 93/20, and the median age was 58 years (range 28-87). Previous treatment consisted of surgery (SG) +/- radiotherapy (RT) in 81 patients (SG group) and only RT in 32 (RT group): 59 cases presented a relapse in the treated neck and 54 in the contralateral side. All but one contralateral recurrences were in the SG group. Ten patients were lost to follow-up. The observed 5-year survival rate of the whole series was 29.2% (95% confidence interval, 0%-38%). Considering patients with ipsilateral recurrences, the 5-year disease-free survival rate was 38.7% (95% c.i., 28.7%-48.7%) and 27% (95% c.i., 18%-36%) for the SG and the RT group, respectively. The 5-year disease-free survival rate after SG for contralateral recurrences was 38.8% (95% c.i., 23.8%-53.8%). Dimension and mobility of the neck nodes were the only demonstrable prognostic factors.
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