Aggressive Squamous Cell Carcinoma in Organ Transplant Recipients

Importance: Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is the most frequent malignant neoplasm found in solid organ transplant recipients and is associated with a more aggressive disease course and higher risk of metastasis and death than in the general population. Objectives: To report the clinicopathologic features of and identify factors associated with aggressive SCC in solid organ transplant recipients. Methods: This retrospective multicentric case series included 51 patients who underwent solid organ transplantation and were found to have aggressive SCC, defined by nodal or distant metastasis or death by local progression of primary SCC. Standard questionnaires were completed by the researchers between July 18, 2005, and January 1, 2015. Data were analyzed between February 22, 2016, and July 12, 2016. Results: Of the 51 participants, 43 were men and 8 were women, with a median age of 51 years (range, 19-71 years) at time of transplantation and 62 years (range, 36-77 years) at time of diagnosis of aggressive SCC. The distribution of aggressive SCC was preferentially on the face (34 [67%]) and scalp (6 [12%]), followed by the upper extremities (6 [12%]). A total of 21 tumors (41%) were poorly differentiated, with a median tumor diameter of 18.0 mm (range, 4.0-64.0 mm) and median tumor depth of 6.2 mm (range, 1.0-20.0 mm). Perineural invasion was present in 20 patients (39%), while 23 (45%) showed a local recurrence. The 5-year overall survival rate was 23%, while 5-year disease-specific survival was 30.5%. Conclusions and Relevance: Results of this case series suggest that anatomical site, differentiation, tumor diameter, tumor depth, and perineural invasion are important risk factors in aggressive SCC in solid organ transplant recipients

The Role of Regional Disease and Patterns of Treatment Failure in Primary Sinonasal Malignancies

BACKGROUND The question how to treat the clinically negative neck in sinonasal malignancies is controversial. OBJECTIVES To investigate patterns of treatment failure and to assess outcome measures in patients with primary sinonasal malignancies. METHODS Retrospective cohort study of patients treated for primary malignant sinonasal malignancies. RESULTS Lymph node (LN) metastases at initial presentation were present in 8 of 152 patients (5.3%). Ipsi- and contralateral LN levels 1 and 2 were identified as nodal basins at risk. We found a 5-year overall survival (OS) of 75.2% and disease free survival of 61.1%. Among patients with cN0 neck, nodal recurrence free survival was not different between patients with and without elective neck treatment (P  =  .23). On logistic regression analysis, we found initial T classification as an independent factor for achievement of complete remission (CR) and OS. CONCLUSIONS LN metastases at initial presentation are rare and initial T classification was identified as the most important prognostic factor for OS and CR, emphasizing the need for a thorough initial staging of the primary tumor

Multilocular sinonasal malignant melanoma: a poor prognostic subgroup?

Clinical observations show that two subtypes of sinonasal malignant melanoma exist: uni- and multilocular melanoma. The aim of this retrospective study was to determine the prevalence and outcome of multilocular sinonasal malignant melanoma. All patients with sinonasal malignant melanoma treated at our institution between 1992 and 2011 were included. Survival and recurrence data were analyzed related to the distribution pattern of the tumors and other factors. Twenty-five patients were identified and included in the analysis. Seven patients (28 %) suffered from multilocular, the remaining 18 patients (72 %) from unilocular sinonasal malignant melanoma. The first group showed a significantly worse disease-free survival, whereas disease-specific and overall survival did not differ between the two subtypes. Multilocular sinonasal malignant melanoma is associated with an unfavorable disease-free survival compared to its unilocular counterpart

Multilocular sinonasal malignant melanoma: a poor prognostic subgroup?

Clinical observations show that two subtypes of sinonasal malignant melanoma exist: uni- and multilocular melanoma. The aim of this retrospective study was to determine the prevalence and outcome of multilocular sinonasal malignant melanoma. All patients with sinonasal malignant melanoma treated at our institution between 1992 and 2011 were included. Survival and recurrence data were analyzed related to the distribution pattern of the tumors and other factors. Twenty-five patients were identified and included in the analysis. Seven patients (28%) suffered from multilocular, the remaining 18 patients (72%) from unilocular sinonasal malignant melanoma. The first group showed a significantly worse disease-free survival, whereas disease-specific and overall survival did not differ between the two subtypes. Multilocular sinonasal malignant melanoma is associated with an unfavorable disease-free survival compared to its unilocular counterpart

Preoperative assessment of CD44-mediated depth of invasion as predictor of occult metastases in early oral squamous cell carcinoma

BACKGROUND Epithelial-mesenchymal transition and cancer stem-like cells (CSC) have been linked to increased metastatic potential. We evaluated the prognostic impact of CD44, a CSC biomarker, on depth of invasion (DOI) and outcome in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). METHODS Using a multivariable logistic regression model, we evaluated in early OSCCs the relationship between CD44 expression at the invasive tumor front, DOI, sentinel lymph node biopsy, extension of nodal involvement, and survival. We also assessed whether CT and/or MRI could predict DOI preoperatively. RESULTS CD44 expression was associated with increased DOI (P = .018), worse disease-specific survival (P = .041) but not with positive sentinel lymph node biopsy (P > .05). Each millimeter increase in DOI was associated with a 31.1% higher risk for positive sentinel lymph node biopsy (95% CI: 5.8%-62.4%, P = .013) and with higher metastatic ratio (P = .015). Preoperative estimation of DOI by CT and/or MRI and histopathological DOI showed a strong correlation (P < .0001). CONCLUSIONS CD44 expression correlates with DOI, which predicts occult lymph node metastasis. Preoperative CT and/or MRI provides an accurate estimation of histopathological DOI. Both pieces of information gained preoperatively can help surgeons tailor their operation in regard to the surgical management of the neck

Maximum Standardized Uptake Value (SUVmax) of Primary Tumor Predicts Occult Neck Metastasis in Oral Cancer

The aim of this study was to investigate the predictability of occult lymph node metastasis using maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) in the primary tumor on pre-treatment 18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography FDG-PET in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) patients who were clinically node negative (cN0) before surgery. A retrospective analysis of all patients treated at the University Hospital Zurich from 2007 to 2016 for OSCC with available pre-therapeutic FDG-PET was performed. We assessed the correlation of SUVmax of the primary tumors with the presence of occult nodal disease in the neck dissection specimen (pN+). The study included a total of 71 patients. In the nodal negative group (cN0/pN0), the median SUVmax of primary tumors was 9.0 (interquartile range (IQR) 7.4–13.9), while it was 11.4 (IQR 9.9–15.7) in the occult metastatic group (cN0/pN+). The difference was statistically significant (independent samples median test, P = 0.037). In a multivariable model, the only independent predictor of occult metastatic disease for cN0 patients was a SUVmax ≥ 9.5 (P = 0.028). Further, primary tumors with SUVmax ≥ 9.5 had a significantly higher risk of local recurrence (Log rank test, P = 0.020). In conclusion, we showed that higher SUVmax (≥9.5) of the primary tumor is associated with higher occurrence of occult metastatic nodal disease and worse local survival. High SUVmax of the primary tumor may encourage clinicians towards more aggressive treatment

Impact of the new TNM Staging System (8th edition) on oral tongue cancers

AIM OF THE STUDY For tumours of the oral tongue, the most recent 8th edition of the AJCC/UICC staging system has introduced depth of infiltration (DOI) as a novel parameter. With this study we wanted to investigate its impact regarding this risk stratification compared with the preceding 7th edition. METHODS Between 2008 and 2017, 161 patients of two tertiary referral centres in Switzerland (Kantonsspital St. Gallen and University Hospital Zurich) with T1 N0 or T2 N0 tongue cancers were enrolled in this study. The primary tumours were restaged according to the 8th edition of the TNM classification. Kaplan-Meier curves for overall and disease-specific survival were calculated. RESULTS According to the 7th edition, of the 161 patients, 102 were staged after surgery as pT1 (stage I) and 59 as pT2 (stage II). According to the 8th edition, 36 patients (22.4%) were re-staged to a higher stage. Of these 36 patients, 8 (22.2%) experienced a recurrence, and 9 (25%) died. In the remaining, not re-staged group, 20 patients (16.0%) experienced a recurrence (p = 0.55) and 14 (11.2%) died (p = 0.025*). The 7th edition showed a statistically significant difference between pT1 and pT2 tumours for overall survival (p = 0.025), but not for disease-specific survival (p = 0.091), whereas the 8th edition was able to well discriminate between pT1, pT2 and pT3 for both overall (pT1 vs pT2, p = 0.016*; pT2 vs pT3, p = 0.031*) and disease-specific survival (pT1 vs pT2, p = 0.037*; pT2 vs pT3, p = 0.023*). CONCLUSION The recent TNM 8th edition provides a more accurate prediction of overall and disease-specific survival for this subgroup of patients. Hence, a more aggressive treatment should be considered for patients re-staged to pT3 due to depth of infiltration