Nine cases of primary malignant melanoma of the upper respiratory tract treated at the University Hospital over the past 10 years are presented. Of the 9 cases, 6 had primary lesions located in the nasal cavity with the remaining 3 presenting in the nasopharynx, hard palate, and larynx, respectively. The authors review presenting symptoms, diagnostic evaluation, current therapeutic modalities, and clinical course in these cases. Specific cases are discussed to emphasize items of clinical or therapeutic importance.

Postintubation granuloma of the larynx is a well recognized entity, which has accompanied the increased use of endotracheal intubation for general anesthesia. Voice rest, corticosteroids, antibiotics, antacids, and surgical removal are generally accepted conventional therapies, although select cases are fraught with a high rate of recurrence. We recently evaluated a patient who had undergone 6 surgical excisions of a postintubation laryngeal granuloma during a 5-month interval. The larynx was treated with 1,200 cGy photon irradiation during a 4-day period, and there has been no granuloma recurrence in 36 months of follow-up. The rationale and selection criteria for patients who might benefit from low-dose radiotherapy for recurrent laryngeal granulomas are discussed.

Tritiated thymidine (3HTdR) labeling is the standard technique for determining the kinetic activity of tumors. This method has been used to label multiple sections of tumor specimens obtained from seven patients with advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. Considerable variability was observed in the labeling index in different sites from the same specimen. To reduce the large sampling error due to heterogeneity, we recommend that an average value be determined from multiple sections when employing this technique.