Head and Neck Cancers

Prognostic Significance of Invasion Depth in Oral Tongue Squamous Cell Carcinoma

“…However, despite its importance, pathological invasion depth hardly features in the staging for SCC of the tongue. Management guidelines also use tumor thickness rather than invasion depth to determine the need for elective neck dissection despite its anatomical relevance mentioned earlier in our paper [2]. It would be worthwhile to perform studies which compare the prognostic significance of tumor thickness versus invasion depth to determine which variable ought to be considered during decision making for neck dissection or adjuvant therapy.…”

“…This may be particularly relevant in exophytic tumors where the use of tumor thickness as a surrogate may overestimate the true invasion depth. Unfortunately, previous studies have failed to clearly differentiate between the two parameters and current guidelines consider mainly tumor thickness as a factor for the necessity of adjuvant neck dissection [2]. …”

“…Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is the predominant malignancy in the oral cavity with the oral tongue being the most common subsite. Current management guidelines consider tumor thickness as a factor guiding the necessity of adjuvant neck dissection in oral cavity cancers [2]. Although tumor thickness and depth of invasion are often used synonymously, they are in reality different and should be clearly differentiated [3,4,5,6,7,8,9].…”

Surgical Management of Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

“…The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) recommends a thorough history and physical exam, tissue diagnosis, HPV testing for prognosis (suggested), chest imaging, CT scan with contrast and/or MRI of both the suspected primary site and the neck, 18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography and CT (PET/CT) scan for stage III-IV disease (suggested), dental evaluation as indicated, and examination under anesthesia if necessary [17].…”

Addition of 18F-FDG PET/CT to Clinical Assessment Predicts Overall Survival in HNSCC: A Retrospective Analysis with Follow-up for 12 Years

“…Imaging of the primary tumor is recommended within 6 mo of treatment completion (8), but the value of follow-up imaging for asymptomatic patients after 6 mo has not been established. Treatment with radiotherapy and surgery causes inflammation, scarring, and tissue distortion, which can limit the interpretation of anatomic imaging techniques such as CT and MR imaging (9,10).…”