Objective To measure pepsin expression in patients with vocal fold leukoplakia and elucidate its clinical significance. Study Design Retrospective analysis of pathologic archive specimens. Setting Affiliated university hospital. Subjects and Methods The study included 45 patients with vocal fold leukoplakia and 19 with vocal fold polyps who underwent surgical treatment between December 2013 and July 2016. Masses were detected on both vocal cords in 5 patients with vocal fold leukoplakia and in 1 patient with vocal fold polyps. Immunohistochemistry was used to assess pepsin expression. In addition, the relationship of pepsin expression level with clinical characteristics of vocal fold leukoplakia was assessed. Results The rate of pepsin expression was high in the polyp group (75%) and the leukoplakia group (68%); however, the difference between groups was not significant ( P > .05). Pepsin expression significantly increased according to grade of dysplasia (mild, 57.1%; moderate, 88.9%; severe, 100.0%; P = .034). Similarly, the percentage of lesions that exhibited strongly positive pepsin expression increased with the grade of dysplasia (mild, 37.1%; moderate, 66.7%; severe, 100.0%; P = .005). The leukoplakia recurrence rate was higher in patients with positive pepsin expression than in patients with negative pepsin expression but without a significant difference ( P > .05). Conclusion Our study suggests that pepsin was associated with the grade of dysplasia of vocal cord leukoplakia. Further investigation with appropriate control groups and controlling for other risk factors, such as smoking or alcohol consumption, is needed.

Background: To explore the prognostic value of diverse subsets of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) in prognosis in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) using meta-analysis. Methods: Relevant studies were searched in the database of PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane Library, Scopus, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and Wanfang till November 2019. The relationship between TAMs and survival outcomes was estimated by pooling hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs); and the correlation of TAMs and clinicopathological factors was evaluated by using odds ratios (ORs) and 95%CIs. Results: Six studies with 1549 patients were included in this meta-analysis. The high expression of CD68+ TAMs was associated with favorable disease-free survival (DFS) (HR = 0.66, 95%CI = 0.50–0.88, P = .005), whereas the density of M2-like TAMs (CD163+, CD68+CCL18+, and CD206+) was correlated to poor overall survival (OS) (HR = 1.77, 95%CI = 1.22–2.56, P = .003) and DFS (HR = 1.96, 95%CI = 1.00–3.85, P = .050) in patients with NPC. Conclusions: CD68+ TAM density is associated with superior DFS, while CD163+ M2-like TAMs predicted poor prognosis in patients with NPC.

Natural killer/T-cell lymphoma (NKTL) is a rare subtype of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma that is associated with Epstein–Barr virus infection. The clinicopathological features of NKTL are unique among lymphomas. NKTL is an aggressive disease with a poor prognosis in the absence of effective treatment. Accurate diagnosis and staging are essential to ensure an appropriate treatment strategy and accurate prognosis of NKTL. 18F-Fluorodexoyglucose-positron emission tomography/computed tomography (18F-FDG PET/CT) is a valuable technique in the diagnosis, staging, and prognostic evaluation of various types of malignant tumors, including NKTL. PET/CT imaging studies of patients with NKTL have shown that NKTL is 18F-FDG-avid and that PET/CT is superior to conventional methods in detecting cutaneous and extracutaneous lesions. We herein review recent PET/CT studies that have provided considerable insight into the diagnosis, staging, prognostic evaluation, and treatment effectiveness in patients with NKTL.

Tumors of the parapharyngeal space (PPS) are rare, most originate from salivary and neurogenic tissues, and most are benign. However, there are some rarer masses in the PPS, with just a few published reports in the literature worldwide, and we may not consider them in the differential diagnosis of PPS neoplasms. We report three cases of rare masses in the PPS: Warthin’s tumor, branchial cleft cyst, and carcinoma ex pleomorphic adenoma. The three patients were admitted to our department with complaints of painless swelling in the lower side of the right face or a long history of snoring; diagnoses were confirmed histopathologically. An endoscopy-assisted transoral approach was used that allowed wide visibility for safe resection and resulted in a short hospitalization time and good functional and cosmetic outcomes. All patients have been followed to the current time, and there have been no recurrences. The transoral endoscopy-assisted approach appears to be safe, effective, and less invasive for excision of masses in the PPS.