SummaryBackground Previous trials have shown that anti-EGFR monoclonal antibodies can improve clinical outcomes of patients with recurrent or metastatic squamous-cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN). We assessed the effi cacy and safety of panitumumab combined with cisplatin and fl uorouracil as fi rst-line treatment for these patients.

For oral cancers, screening and monitoring of high-risk populations can aid in early diagnosis and improve overall outcomes. Of the new methods, approaches based on exfoliative cytology are more practical for mass screening and monitoring of high-risk populations. Raman spectroscopy and exfoliative cytology for cervical cancers has shown promise in differentiating normal and abnormal samples. In this study, feasibility of Raman oral exfoliative cytology along with cytopathology for oral cancer diagnosis was evaluated on 70 specimens. Exfoliated cells were obtained from 15 healthy volunteers (HV), 15 healthy tobacco users (HT), and 20 contralateral or disease control (DC) and 20 tumor (T) sites of oral-cancer patients. Pap staining was carried out post Raman spectral acquisition. Spectral findings demonstrate that with increase in severity of pathology from HV to T, higher DNA and changes in secondary structure of proteins were encountered. Owing to heterogeneity in cellular samples, two different approaches-point-spectra and patient-wise were evaluated for data analysis. PCA and PC-LDA using both approaches indicate that HV and HT are distinct from cancer groups DC and T.Misclassifications were also observed between HT and DC. These findings also correlate with cytopathological findings. Less misclassifications and higher classification efficiency was observed for patient-wise approach. Large-scale validation study needs to be undertaken for evaluating utility of Raman oral exfoliative cytology for screening of oral cancers using patientwise approach.The incidence of oral cancer worldwide is around 300000 new cases every year 1 . Tobacco abuse (smoking and smokeless) is the most common etiological factor for oral cancer 2 . The overall 5year survival rate of around 50% is mainly attributed to delayed diagnosis and recurrence. These rates are less than occult cancers like breast, colorectal, cervix 3 . Early detection of oral cancer and its curable precursors remains the best way to ensure patient survival and improved quality of life 4, 5 . South Asian countries like India are major contributors to the global cancer burden, due to rampant tobacco habits. In fact, it is estimated that over 90% of the global smokeless tobacco burden is in South Asia-around 100 million people use smokeless tobacco in India and Pakistan alone 6, 7 . Due to a known dose-response relationship between tobacco consumption and development of oral cancer, chronic tobacco abusers are at high risk for development of oral cancer 8 . Thus, screening and monitoring of these high-risk populations, along with the general population is crucial.The current standard screening procedure for oral cancers is visual inspection followed by biopsy and histopathology of suspicious lesions. These currently employed methods have shown limited potential in detecting precancerous or early cancerous lesions 9 . In fact, visual examination was useful as a method of screening for oral cancer only in high risk cases like chronic smokers or alcoholics 10 . The susp...

This is a retrospective study of Hodgkin's disease in children less than 15 years of age who were registered at Tata Memorial Hospital in India from January 1985 through December 1990. Clinicopathologic characteristics and response were evaluated in 147 patients and survival was calculated in 187. There were 126 boys and 21 girls (6:1). All patients were treated with combination chemotherapy and involved field radiotherapy. The COPP schedule was given to 108 patients. COPP/ABVD to 33, and ABVD to 6. Ninety-three patients (63%) had stage I or II disease and 54 (37%) had stage III or IV disease. B symptoms were observed in 65 patients (56%) and bulky disease in 40 (27%). Histologically, the most common subtype was mixed cellularity, seen in 95 patients (65%). Complete response was observed in 136 (89%), partial response in 6 (4%), and there were 4 treatment-related deaths. Relapse has been observed in 11%. Seven-year actuarial survival was 73% and event-free survival was 64%. Median survival has not yet been reached, with a median follow-up of 36 months.

Oral premalignant lesions (OPLs) such as leukoplakia, erythroplakia, and oral submucous fibrosis, often precede oral cancer. Screening and management of these premalignant conditions can improve prognosis. Raman spectroscopy has previously demonstrated potential in the diagnosis of oral premalignant conditions (in vivo), detected viral infection, and identified cancer in both oral and cervical exfoliated cells (ex vivo). The potential of Raman exfoliative cytology (REC) in identifying premalignant conditions was investigated. Oral exfoliated samples were collected from healthy volunteers (n=20), healthy volunteers with tobacco habits (n=20), and oral premalignant conditions (n=27, OPL) using Cytobrush. Spectra were acquired using Raman microprobe. Spectral acquisition parameters were: λex: 785 nm, laser power: 40 mW, acquisition time: 15 s, and average: 3. Postspectral acquisition, cell pellet was subjected to Pap staining. Multivariate analysis was carried out using principal component analysis and principal component-linear discriminant analysis using both spectra- and patient-wise approaches in three- and two-group models. OPLs could be identified with ∼77% (spectra-wise) and ∼70% (patient-wise) sensitivity in the three-group model while with 86% (spectra-wise) and 83% (patient-wise) in the two-group model. Use of histopathologically confirmed premalignant cases and better sampling devices may help in development of improved standard models and also enhance the sensitivity of the method. Future longitudinal studies can help validate potential of REC in screening and monitoring high-risk populations and prognosis prediction of premalignant lesions.