Objectives: To present treatment results of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) at a tertiary cancer care center from 1985 to 2015. Materials and Methods:A total of 2082 patients were eligible for this study. Main outcomes measured were overall survival (OS) and disease specific survival (DSS). Prognostic variables were identified with bivariate analyses using Kaplan-Meier curves and log-rank testing for comparison. A p-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant and significant factors were entered into multivariate analysis. Median age was 62 years (16-100), 56% were men, 66% reported a history of tobacco use and 71% of alcohol consumption. The most common subsite was tongue (51%). Seventy-three percent of patients had cT1-2 and 71% had clinically negative necks (cN0). Surgery alone was performed in 1348 patients (65%), adjuvant postoperative radiotherapy in 608 patients (29%) and postoperative chemoradiation in 126 patients (6%). Neck dissection was performed in 920 patients with cN0, and in 585 patients with a clinically involved neck. The median follow-up was 37.6 months (range 1-382). Results:The 5-year OS and DSS were 64.4% and 79.3%, respectively. Age, comorbidities, margin status, vascular invasion, perineural invasion, AJCC 8 th edition pT, and pN were independent prognostic factors of OS (p<0.05). History of alcohol consumption, margin status, vascular invasion, perineural invasion, pT, and pN were independent prognostic factors of DSS (p<0.05). Conclusion:pN stage is the most powerful and consistent predictor of outcome in patients with OSCC treated with primary surgery and appropriate adjuvant therapy.

Purpose of review-The objectives of this article are to review the major changes in the staging of head and neck cancers and the rationale for the modifications.Recent findings-Information gathered from various institutional reports lead to a better understanding of the clinical and biological behavior of head and neck tumors, resulting in distinct outcomes, which were used to update the staging system.Summary-This article reviews the changes in the staging of head and neck cancers published in the 8 th edition of the AJCC/UICC TNM staging system.

IMPORTANCE Resection of the primary tumor with negative margins is the gold standard treatment for squamous cell carcinoma of the oral tongue (SCCOT). A microscopically positive surgical margin is clearly associated with a higher risk for local recurrence, whereas a negative margin has traditionally been defined as greater than 5.0 mm clearance from the tumor, with lesser margins arbitrarily designated as close. The precise cutoff at which the risk for local recurrence with a close margin approximates that of a microscopically positive margin remains unclear. OBJECTIVE To determine whether the arbitrarily defined close margin (<5.0 mm) would portend as high a risk for local recurrence as a positive margin after resection of SCCOT. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS In this retrospective study, head and neck pathologists reviewed archived tumor specimens from 381 patients with SCCOT who underwent primary surgical resection at a tertiary care center from January 1, 2000, through December 31, 2012. Data were analyzed from November 15, 2015, to January 5, 2016. Time-dependent receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was used in patients who did not have a microscopically positive margin to determine an optimal margin cutoff for local recurrence-free survival (LRFS). Pathologic factors were assessed for LRFS in a multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression model. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary end point was evaluation of the margin distance associated with LRFS. RESULTS Among the 381 patients included in the analysis (222 men [58.3%] and 159 women [41.7%]; mean [SD] age, 58 [14.7] years), the optimal cutoff associated with LRFS was determined to be 2.2 mm. This cutoff was compared with the traditionally accepted cutoff of 5.0 mm. Patients with a margin of 2.3 to 5.0 mm had similar LRFS as patients with a margin of greater than 5.0 mm (hazard ratio [HR], 1.31; 95% CI, 0.58–2.96), and all other comparisons were significantly different (HR for positive margin, 9.03; 95% CI, 3.45–23.67; HR for 0.01-to 2.2-mm margin, 2.83; 95% CI, 1.32–6.07). Based on this result, negative margins were redefined as those with a clearance of greater than 2.2 mm. In a multivariate model adjusting for pathologic factors, positive margins (adjusted HR, 5.73; 95% CI, 2.45–13.41) and margins of 0.01 to 2.2 mm (adjusted HR, 2.00; 95% CI, 1.13–3.55) were the variables most significantly associated with LRFS. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In this study, local recurrence-free survival was significantly affected only with surgical margins of less than or equal to 2.2 mm in patients with SCCOT. This new definition of close margins stratifies the risk for local recurrence better than the arbitrary 5.0-mm cutoff that has been used.

BACKGROUND: Minor salivary gland carcinomas of the head and neck are rare cancers with variable clinical behavior. This study explored the incidence, pathology, clinical behavior, and factors predictive of outcomes in a large cohort of patients treated at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center over a 30-year period (1985-2015). METHODS: Clinical, pathological, treatment, and outcome data were collected. Unadjusted and adjusted hazard ratios for each variable were calculated with univariate and multivariable Cox regression for survival and recurrence outcomes. RESULTS: Four hundred fifty patients were included: 55% were female, 56% were younger than 60 years, and the median follow-up was 74 months (range, 1-364 months). The most common site was the oral cavity with 305 tumors (68%), which was followed by the oropharynx with 96 (21%), the sinonasal cavity with 38 (8%), the trachea with 7 (2%), and the larynx with 4 (1%). The most common histological types were mucoepidermoid carcinoma (180 tumors [40%]), adenoid cystic carcinoma (141 tumors [31%]), and polymorphous low-grade adenocarcinoma (54 tumors [12%]). The 5-year predicted overall survival rate was 86%, and the disease-specific survival rate was 94% at 5 years. Pathology and tumor stage were significant variables on multivariate analysis for overall survival, disease-specific survival, recurrence-free survival, local recurrencefree survival, regional recurrence-free survival, and distant recurrence-free survival. CONCLUSIONS: American Joint Committee on Cancer stage and pathology were the most predictive variables across all outcomes. Tumor site, postoperative radiotherapy, and margin status were not statistically significant variables after tumor stage and pathology were controlled for in most outcomes.

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