Transoral surgery for superficial head and neck cancer: National Multi‐Center Survey in Japan

Head and neck cancers, especially in hypopharynx and oropharynx, are often detected at advanced stage with poor prognosis. Narrow band imaging enables detection of superficial cancers and transoral surgery is performed with curative intent. However, pathological evaluation and real-world safety and clinical outcomes have not been clearly understood. The aim of this nationwide multicenter study was to investigate the safety and efficacy of transoral surgery for superficial head and neck cancer. We collected the patients with superficial head and neck squamous cell carcinoma who were treated by transoral surgery from 27 hospitals in Japan. Central pathology review was undertaken on all of the resected specimens. The primary objective was effectiveness of transoral surgery, and the secondary objective was safety including incidence and severity of adverse events. Among the 568 patients, a total of 662 lesions were primarily treated by 575 sessions of transoral surgery. The median tumor diameter was 12 mm (range 1–75) endoscopically. Among the lesions, 57.4% were diagnosed as squamous cell carcinoma in situ. The median procedure time was 48 minutes (range 2–357). Adverse events occurred in 12.7%. Life-threatening complications occurred in 0.5%, but there were no treatment-related deaths. During a median follow-up period of 46.1 months (range 1–113), the 3-year overall survival rate, relapse-free survival rate, cause-specific survival rate, and larynx-preservation survival rate were 88.1%, 84.4%, 99.6%, and 87.5%, respectively. Transoral surgery for superficial head and neck cancer offers effective minimally invasive treatment

Capacity Deterioration Analysis of Li-ion Battery Cathode Li[Ni1/3Co1/3Mn1/3]O2 Material by Soft X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy

We report detailed studies of capacity deterioration mechanism of Li[Ni1/3Co1/3Mn1/3]O2 (NCM) cathode after several numbers of cycling with the voltage range of 3.0–4.1 V/cell at 85 °C and after storage at charged states (3.7, 4.0 and 4.1 V/cell) at 70 °C for 150 days by soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD). Morphological changes were also observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM).Ni, Co, and Mn L-edge XAS analysis revealed that Ni, a part of Co and no Mn were active for charge/discharge in the above-described voltage range. Only Ni L-edge XAS exhibited significant spectral changes by capacity deterioration. Ni mean valence at discharged state increased with the capacity deterioration rate of each sample either after storage test or after cycling test, which corresponds to the increase of the lattice constant ratio c/a, obtained by the XRD analysis. Chemically decomposed species on the NCM particle surfaces increased with capacity deterioration. Many cracks were observed in the SEM image of the sample after extended cycling. Crack generation, formation of the cubic spinel phase on the surface and deposition of decomposed species on the particles hamper the Li ion insertion to the cathode material at discharge, which is responsible for capacity deterioration. The crack generation is enhanced in case of the cycling test, while the deposition of decomposed species and the formation of the cubic spinel phase on the surface are more enhanced in case of the storage test