Background The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is widespread among cancer patients in India. Objective The present study elucidated usage patterns of CAM and the factors responsible for its adoption among the patients with cancer, and the therapeutic impact of CAM. Materials and methods This was a questionnaire-based study, conducted among patients with cancer in a tertiary care hospital in a sub-Himalayan city. Data were analyzed using statistical methods. Results A total of 2614 patients with cancer were included. Almost half of the patients (n = 1208, 46.2%) reported to have been treated with CAM. Breast cancer (n = 274, 23.0%) was most prevalent with majority at advanced stages. Ayurveda (n = 428, 35.9%) Yoga/Naturopathy (n = 381, 32.0%) Homeopathy (n = 143, 12.0%) and Unani (n = 71, 5.9%) were used commonly. Among CAM users, 85.0% (n = 1012) of patients used CAM as the sole method of treatment, while 58.9% (n = 702) patients reported initial symptomatic benefit. Conclusion Using CAM benefitted a significant number of patients with cancer. However, there is an urgent need to integrate CAM with modern system of medicine.

Background: Extranodal extension (ENE) has been included as a factor for the staging of head-and-neck cancer (HNC) considering its prognostic value. Aim: The present study aimed to find out the percentage of patients with HNC getting upstaged because of ENE and their treatment outcome. Patients and Methods: A retrospective analysis of all patients with HNC registered in the Department of Radiation Oncology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Rishikesh, India, between January 2018 and January 2019. American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) criteria were used for defining clinical and radiological ENE. The site, subsite, stage and presence of ENE were documented. The clinical outcome of all these patients was collected and analysed. Results: A total of 562 patients were registered with HNC. Among them 45 patients were identified to have ENE (8%). The majority of the cases were oral cavity (44.4%) and oropharyngeal tumours (26.8%). Thirty-three patients had clinically documented ENE and 11 were radiological and one patient had pathological ENE. Among those who got upstaged to N3b disease due to ENE, 29 patients (64.4%) had N2 disease as per the 7th edition AJCC. When stage grouping was considered, 28 patients (62.2%) who got upstaged had stage Isovaleric acidaemia (IVA) disease as per the AJCC 7th Edition. Twelve patients were treated with radical intent and 16 received palliative treatment and rest did not complete the treatment or defaulted. Overall, the outcomes of these patients remained poor. Conclusion: A significant proportion of HNC patients got upstaged when ENE was included in the staging. Patients with ENE had a poor prognosis irrespective of the treatment modality.

Disseminated blood-borne metastases from carcinoma of the gall bladder are uncommon and usually occur late. The most common site of extra-abdominal metastasis is lung followed by brain. Skeletal metastases in carcinoma gall bladder are very rare. To date there have only been a few case reports of bone metastasis in carcinoma gall bladder at the time of presentation. Authors here present a rare case of carcinoma gall bladder that progressed to isolated sacrum metastasis.

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