Tumor size greater than 5 cm and high grade tumors were important prognostic factors for survival. Every effort should be made for early diagnosis and wide surgical excision. For localized recurrent tumors without evidence of distant metastasis, surgery should be attempted whenever possible. High rates of locoregional failure in head and neck area indicate the need for improved treatment strategies.

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BACKGROUND Soft tissue sarcomas of head and neck constitute a heterogeneous group of rare malignant tumors occurring at rare sites. The purpose of this retrospective study is to evaluate the pathologic features, treatment modalities, outcome, patterns of failure, survival, and other prognostic factors. METHODS The medical records of 72 patients whose tumors were diagnosed as head and neck sarcomas, treated at Tata Memorial Center between 1981 to 1995 were reviewed. Potential prognostic factors including age, gender, tumor size, histology, grade, and adjuvant treatment were evaluated. RESULTS The overall and disease free survival at 5 years was 60% and 45%, respectively. The median survival and follow‐up was 76 and 38 months, respectively. Thirty‐two patients (44.4%) developed recurrence of which 13 patients were salvaged. The univariate and multivariate analysis showed tumor size and grade as important prognostic factors for the survival. CONCLUSIONS Tumor size greater than 5 cm and high grade tumors were important prognostic factors for survival. Every effort should be made for early diagnosis and wide surgical excision. For localized recurrent tumors without evidence of distant metastasis, surgery should be attempted whenever possible. High rates of locoregional failure in head and neck area indicate the need for improved treatment strategies. Cancer 2000;89:868–72. © 2000 American Cancer Society.

We have carried out a detailed analysis of the cellular immune functions of breast cancer patients in comparison with healthy controls. A possible correlation between immune and clinical parameters was analysed in 50 breast cancer patients. Immune parameters, natural killer cell and T lymphocyte functions and the numbers of circulating T lymphocytes were analysed against the clinical parameters comprising the tumour burden, the stage of the disease and the expression of hormone receptors on the tumour. In order to analyse the immune function data effectively, low responders were identified with stringent cut-off values. Considerably higher proportions of low responders were found among the patient population. Elevated numbers of circulating T lymphocytes and CD3-directed cytolysis correlated with the expression of oestrogen receptors independently of the clinical/histological parameters.