Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
3.3
2.4
Journals
Medicina
Special Issues
Head and Neck Oncology: From Precise Surgery to Precision Medicine...
share announcement

Head and Neck Oncology: From Precise Surgery to Precision Medicine and Surgery

A special issue of Medicina (ISSN 1648-9144). This special issue belongs to the section "Oncology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 October 2022) | Viewed by 4372

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Vui King Vincent-Chong

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Oral Oncology, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, NY, USA
Interests: oral oncology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues, 

Known collectively as head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), such cancers originate from the mucosal epithelium of the oral cavity, pharynx, and larynx. In general, the clinical outcomes are poor due mainly to the late diagnosis of the disease as well as the differences and availability of treatment for the several subtypes and their distinct biological and molecular properties (even within the same histological subtype). Most treatments involve surgery or surgery combined with radiation therapy or chemotherapy. HNSCC treatment is known as a complex multidisciplinary task because overtreatment of this malignancy may lead to functional defects, whereas undertreatment could result in cancer recurrence.

Nevertheless, several innovative approaches have been shown to improve clinical outcomes in HNSCC treatment. Transoral resection robotic surgery (TORS) using the da Vinci surgical robot for resecting oropharynx tumors is among the most popular procedures worldwide. It is minimally invasive and has been reported to reduce surgical morbidity and hospitalization periods, as well as closely replicating the survival outcomes of traditional open surgery. Radiation therapy for HNSCC has also seen major enhancements, with intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) being a major innovation over the last two decades and a principal therapeutic strategy in treating HNSCC. In addition, innovations such as proton, carbon beam, and boron-neutron capture therapies seem to have potential, though their effects on long-term morbidity and survival outcomes are still undetermined.

Advances in technology have opened up opportunities for the surgical management of HNSCC by leveraging innovations in surgery, technical methods, and tumor biology. This is reflected in the greater need for the multidisciplinary management of these tumors. Greater precision in defining the molecular bases of HNSCC has led to more refined multidisciplinary treatment paradigms for such patients. Precision medicine is often thought to relate to new molecular diagnostics or unique medical therapy; however, developments in and the use of robotic surgery have fostered the era of 'precision' head and neck surgery.

Precision medicine based on genomic profiling is also becoming more common. It relies on the genetic information of individual patients or specific cancer cells and how their genes interact with each other and the environment. This method has the potential to provide more effective treatment strategies as they can be customized to address the specific genetic profiles of patients. To date, cetuximab remains the only systemic targeted therapy approved for the treatment of HNSCC. Lately, immune checkpoint blockade has been recognized as one of the standards of care for R/M HNSCC patients. Despite showing improved outcomes in some patients, the clinical benefits of cetuximab and immune checkpoint blockades are rather limited. New treatment approaches are thus needed that will enhance the clinical outcomes for HNSCC patient. Additionally, newly emerging interests in the area of genomic, proteomic, transcriptomic, and metabolomic markers regarding prognostic and predictive markers may facilitate treatment selection.

The aim and scope of this Special Issue is to cover the development of innovative treatment approaches to HNSCC with multidisciplinary management, with the goal of improving HNSCC patients’ clinical outcomes.

The specific topics that we are interested in are:

  • Precision medicine, i.e., targeted therapies in HNSCC
  • Innovative techniques, i.e., surgery, imaging, artificial intelligence, etc., that involves a multidisciplinary treatment paradigm for HNSCC patients
  • Biomarkers that could assist in the stratification of responders and non-responders to clinical management of HNSCC.

This Special Issue of Medicina, entitled Head and Neck Oncology: From Precise Surgery to Precision Medicine and Surgery, welcomes the submission of original articles, review articles, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses related to precision surgery and precision medicine, as well as biomarkers related to HNSCC treatment outcomes after chemotherapy/chemoradiotherapy/ICI. This Special Issue also invites new experimental clinical results related to HNSCC.

Dr. Vui King Vincent-Chong
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Medicina is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • HNSCC
  • OSCC
  • precise surgery
  • precision medicine
  • targeted therapy
  • prognosis
  • chemoradiation therapy
  • immune checkpoint blockade
  • biomarkers
  • minimally invasive surgery
  • robotic surgery

Published Papers (2 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

Jump to: Other

15 pages, 2152 KiB  
Article
Prognostic Abilities of Pre- and Post-Treatment Inflammatory Markers in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma: Stepwise Modelling
by Sarah Sabrina Zakaria, Anand Ramanathan, Zakiah Mat Ripen, Wan Maria Nabillah Ghani, Yi-Hsin Yang, Vui King Vincent-Chong and Siti Mazlipah Ismail
Medicina 2022, 58(10), 1426; https://doi.org/10.3390/medicina58101426 - 10 Oct 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1532
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Studies examining the importance of inflammatory markers before treatment as prognosticators of OSCC are available, but information on post-therapy inflammatory markers and their prognostic significance is limited. This study aimed to evaluate the prognostic abilities of pre- and post-treatment inflammatory [...] Read more.
Background and Objectives: Studies examining the importance of inflammatory markers before treatment as prognosticators of OSCC are available, but information on post-therapy inflammatory markers and their prognostic significance is limited. This study aimed to evaluate the prognostic abilities of pre- and post-treatment inflammatory markers in patients with OSCC. Materials and Methods: In this retrospective analysis, information on 151 OSCC patients’ socio-demographic, clinico-pathological, recurrence, metastasis, and survival data were gathered from clinical records. A multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression (stepwise model) was conducted to identify the prognostic predictors of OS and DFS. The multivariable models’ performances were evaluated using Harrell’s concordance statistics. Results: For OS, high pre-treatment LMR (HR 3.06, 95%CI 1.56, 5.99), and high post-treatment PLC (HR 3.35, 95%CI 1.71, 6.54) and PLR (HR 5.26, 95%CI 2.62, 10.58) were indicative of a poor prognosis. For DFS, high pre-treatment SII (HR 2.59, 95%CI 1.50, 4.48) and high post-treatment PLC (HR 1.92, 95%CI 1.11, 3.32) and PLR (HR 3.44, 95%CI 1.98, 5.07) were associated with increased mortality. The fitness of the OS and DFS stepwise Cox regression models were proven with a time-dependent AUC of 0.8787 and 0.8502, respectively. Conclusions: High pre-treatment levels of LMR and SII and high post-treatment levels of PLC and PLR are independent predictors of a poor prognosis for patients with OSCC. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Head and Neck Oncology: From Precise Surgery to Precision Medicine and Surgery)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Other

Jump to: Research

10 pages, 3346 KiB  
Case Report
Highly Aggressive Osteosarcoma of the Ethmoids and Maxillary Sinus-A Case of Successful Surgery and Proton Beam Radiotherapy in a 65-Year-Old Man
by Jaromír Astl, Tomas Belsan, Ludmila Michnova, Jiří Kubeš, Tomas Filipovsky, Jiri Blecha and Richard Holy
Medicina 2022, 58(9), 1141; https://doi.org/10.3390/medicina58091141 - 23 Aug 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2407
Abstract
Sarcomas in the head and neck area are rare diseases with an incidence of under 1% of all head and neck malignant tumours. Osteosarcomas or osteogenic sarcomas consist of neoplastic cells that produce osteoid bone or immature bone. Sarcomas develop more in the [...] Read more.
Sarcomas in the head and neck area are rare diseases with an incidence of under 1% of all head and neck malignant tumours. Osteosarcomas or osteogenic sarcomas consist of neoplastic cells that produce osteoid bone or immature bone. Sarcomas develop more in the mandible than the maxilla. The exact diagnosis of different types of sarcomas is based on the immunohistochemical investigation. These rare tumours are of mesenchymal origin; osteosarcomas and chondrosarcomas are the most common types—Ewing’s sarcomas. The use of proton beam radiotherapy in the treatment of osteosarcoma of the maxilla is rarely reported in the literature. We present a case of successfully treated (surgery and proton beam radiotherapy) poorly differentiated highly aggressive osteosarcoma in the ethmoids and maxillary sinus and morbidity after the treatment. We were presented with a case of a 65-year-old man with anaesthesia and palsy of the right face. The stomatology department performed the extraction of a tooth. One month later, the wound was still open. The histology showed an osteogenic sarcoma in the area of the wound. The oncologist and maxillofacial surgeons in a catchment hospital recommended a nonsurgical approach. Hence, we performed a radical maxillectomy and ethmoidectomy, after which we continued with proton bean radiotherapy. The patient is now five years after therapy without signs of sarcoma; however, he has blindness in the right eye and reduced vision in the left eye, as well as gliosis of the brain, vertigo, tinnitus, trismus, and ancylostomiases. Head and neck osteosarcomas treatment is considered a complex multidisciplinary task. It is currently argued that there is no clear therapeutic protocol for successful treatment. Innovations in treatment modalities such as proton beam radiotherapy appear to have potential, although their effects on long-term morbidity and survival outcomes are still undetermined. We present a rare case report of an osteosarcoma of the maxilla involving an innovative, successful treatment procedure combining surgical excision followed by proton beam radiotherapy. This treatment approach may enable maximum tumour control. This protocol has not been adequately described in the world literature for this diagnosis. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Head and Neck Oncology: From Precise Surgery to Precision Medicine and Surgery)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-2
Back to TopTop