Clinicopathological study of patients with head and neck sarcomas

Abstract

Sarcomas are rare tumors, mainly stemming from the embryonic mesoderm, with a high grade of morbidity and mortality.Objective: To carry out a retrospective study of head and neck sarcoma cases between 1999 and 2008 in three specialized centers in the city of Fortaleza. Materials and Methods:Data collection was based on the charts of the patients in the study. For statistical analysis purposes we used the chi-square associations and the z test for proportions.Results: We found records of 36 patients, and the most affected ones were adult brown males, in the age range between 20 and 59 years -mean age of 39.7. The man/woman ratio was 1.76:1. The most prevalent histological type was the rhabdomyosarcoma and their most common locations were the face and the neck. Most of the sample was made up of live patients without evidence of the disease in the last visit -41.6% of the cases. The most common treatment modes were the combination of surgery + radiotherapy + chemotherapy and surgery + radiotherapy, with 27.8% of the cases each. Conclusion:Sarcomas have a great histological variability and may have numerous locations. Since these are rare and not well-known lesions, new epidemiological studies must be carried out in order to enhance our understanding of the disease. Braz J Otorhinolaryngol. 2011;77(3):385-90. ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Prognostic factors and treatment strategies for adult head and neck soft tissue sarcoma

“…8,[12][13][14] Various studies have been reported, with average samples sizes. 5,12,13,[15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22] Similar to the study by Van Damme et al, 10 not all the patients were comparable with the present study because the studies mixed adult and paediatric populations. The average duration in the reviewed publications was 193.5 months.…”

An 8-year Pattern of Orofacial Sarcoma from the National Referral Hospital in United Republic of Tanzania

“…Higher prevalence of sarcomas in females was also reported by de Bree et al 15 in a study from Netherlands and Guevara-Canales et al 12 in a Peruvian study. Contrary to our findings, higher occurrence of sarcomas among males has been reported in studies from Japan, 1 Zimbabwe, 10 Brazil, 16 and Portugal. 17 It was ascertained in this study that the overall mean age for occurrence of sarcomas was 33 ± 16 years, with 74% (n = 114) of the patients being aged 40 years and 42 years in a study from Japan, and in an Iranian study, the mean age of 41 years was reported by Alishahi et al 13 In Africa, KS has been described as one of the most common malignant tumors, being prevalent in countries with higher human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome prevalence.…”

“…Adebayo et al, 19 on the contrary, reported rhabdomyosarcoma to be the third most common, accounting for 10% of all sarcomas. In contrast to the above studies and our study, Chidzonga and Mahomva 10 reported prevalence of rhabdomyosarcoma to be 23.8% in a study from Zimbabwe, and Pacheco et al 16 reported prevalence of 25%. An Iranian study 13 reported rhabdomyosarcoma to be the fourth common sarcoma, accounting for 7.61%.…”

Diagnosis and Treatment of Head and Neck Sarcomas: Personal Experiences

“…The patient has been sent to a sarcoma center for choose the ideal treatment where a chemo-radiotherapy has been proposed. The international literature agrees that is difficult to establish a standard treatment for head and neck sarcoma [54,65]. The optimal treatment is complete resection [5,[65][66].…”

“…The international literature agrees that is difficult to establish a standard treatment for head and neck sarcoma [54,65]. The optimal treatment is complete resection [5,[65][66]. Postoperative adjuvant radiotherapy is indicated for patients with low-grade tumors who have close (< 1cm) or positive margins, as well as those with high-grade tumors [66][67].…”