Essential Cases in Head and Neck Oncology. Группа авторов

palatine tonsil.Patient with T1 primary neoplasm located in the palatine tonsil with medially located (retropharyngeal) internal carotid artery.a and c.All of the above.Answer: e. Patients being considered for transoral resection of primary oropharyngeal neoplasm require careful selection. Factors that should be considered include availability of physician and institutional experience in transoral surgery, extent of disease and anatomical factors among other considerations. Anatomical factors that may be considered as absolute contraindications include trismus, large primary tumor (including most T3 and all T4 tumors), inability to obtain adequate exposure due to limitations of neck extension, trismus, presence of mandibular tori, or sequelae of prior therapy. Other factors that may suggest relative contraindications for transoral resection include direct extension of primary neoplasm across the midline of the base of tongue, extension beyond the midline of the soft palate or the posterior pharyngeal wall, or extension out to involved level II nodes and/or major vessel encasement. Patients with medialized retropharyngeal carotid arteries may experience vascular exposure with resection of the primary site and may present a relative contraindication especially when expertise for advanced reconstruction including free tissue transfer is unavailable. The ideal candidate for transoral resection is an edentulous patient with well‐lateralized, small (T1 or T2) primary, with no trismus and good neck extension. When the candidacy for transoral resection is ambiguous, clinicians may consider performing an exam under anesthesia before determining care plans.

      3 Which of the following is a potential side effect of the chemotherapy agent cisplatin?Sensorineural hearing loss.Polyneuronal distal neuropathy.Renal insufficiency.All of the above.Answer: d. These are well‐known complications of this agent.

      4 When should one consider taxane‐based chemotherapy as an alternative to platinum‐based regimens?Always, as taxane‐based regimens have superior efficacy, albeit with greater toxicity.Never, as taxane‐based regimens have inferior oncologic efficacy when compared to radiation alone.Only considered when there is a contraindication to platinum.As a first‐line therapy for patients with unresectable locoregionally recurrent and/or distant metastatic disease.Answer: c. Carboplatin plus paclitaxel is generally inferior to platinum‐based chemotherapy. However, studies have demonstrated favorable locoregional control and short‐term survival rates; therefore, this could be considered in platinum‐ineligible patients such as those with compromised baseline renal function. Immunotherapy (not taxane‐based chemotherapy) is considered first‐line therapy for unresectable locoregionally recurrent and/or distant metastatic disease.

      5 What is the current standard of care for post treatment restaging following nonoperative management of oropharyngeal cancer?8‐week post‐treatment PET/CT.12‐week post‐treatment PET/CT. 16‐week post‐treatment PET/CT.Planned salvage neck dissection.Answer: b. Mehanna et al. (2016) performed a prospective study of 564 patients and evaluated a 12‐week PET/CT scan as compared with a planned neck dissection to understand the role of image‐guided surveillance post‐treatment. While there was no significant survival difference in the two groups, the group managed by PET/CT surveillance had noticeably fewer operations, and the strategy was more cost‐effective. Obtaining a PET/CT prior to 12 weeks runs the risk of false positive results, while delaying imaging may allow for disease progression.

      6 When might one consider induction chemotherapy?Desire for rapid initiation of therapy.Rapid disease progression in a healthy patient who can tolerate the potential toxicity.Potential oligometastatic disease that is not amenable to biopsy.All of the above.Answer: d. While there is no survival benefit to adding induction chemotherapy prior to definitive concurrent chemoradiation, it represents a noninferior approach compared with concurrent chemoradiation alone. Often it is an option to start therapy immediately, particularly when a patient cannot wait 2 weeks for radiation planning. It has been useful in the setting of low (level III/IV) cervical nodal involvement where the risk of distant metastatic spread is high, and in oligometastatic disease that is not amenable to biopsy where one wants to use chemotherapy to select patients that may respond to treatment. Chemoselection has been best studied in SCC of the larynx, where it has been shown to be an effective strategy.

      7 What role does immunotherapy or immune checkpoint blockade currently have in nonoperative HPV‐associated oropharyngeal cancer?There is currently no role in the definitive setting.In platinum‐refractory patients regardless of tumor HPV status.As an adjunct for taxane‐based therapy.a and b.Answer: d. The role of immunotherapy in the management of head and neck cancer is an area of active investigation. There is currently no role in the curative setting, although trials are underway. Current indications for immunotherapy are for unresectable locoregionally recurrent disease and/or distant metastases with both HPV‐positive and HPV‐negative squamous cell cancers of the head and neck.

      8 In patients with a history of prior head and neck radiation therapy, which additional tests should be performed prior to surgery?Creatinine.Total cholesterol.EKG.Thyroid‐stimulating hormone (TSH).Answer: d. In patients with a history of prior external beam radiation to the neck, there is a significant risk of hypothyroidism. A TSH should be obtained unless recently performed. If a patient is hypothyroid, this should be corrected prior to surgical intervention because the risk of wound complications is significantly higher in patients who are hypothyroid.

References

      1 Ang, K.K., Harris, J., Wheeler, R. et al. (2010). Human papillomavirus and survival of patients with oropharyngeal cancer. N. Engl. J. Med. 363: 24–35.

      2 Mehanna, H., Wong, W.L., McConkey, C.C. et al. (2016). PET‐CT surveillance versus neck dissection in advanced head and neck cancer. N. Engl. J. Med. 374: 1444–1454.

      3 Noronha, V., Joshi, A., Patil, V.M. et al. (2018). Once‐a‐week versus once‐every‐3‐weeks cisplatin chemoradiation for locally advanced head and neck cancer: a phase III randomized noninferiority trial. J. Clin. Oncol. 36: 1064–1072.

Suggested Reading

      1 Amsbaugh, M.J., Yusuf, M., Cash, E. et al. (2016). Distribution of cervical lymph node metastases from squamous cell carcinoma of the oropharynx in the era of risk stratification using human papillomavirus and smoking status. Int. J. Radiat. Oncol. Biol. Phys. 96 (2): 349–353. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrobp.2016.06.2450.

      2 Bernier, J., Domenge, C., Ozsahin, M. et al. (2004). Postoperative irradiation with or without concomitant chemotherapy for locally advanced head and neck cancer. N. Engl. J. Med. 350: 1945–1952.

      3 Bots, W.T., Bosch, S., Zwijnenburg, E.M. et al. (2017). Reirradiation of head and neck cancer: long‐term disease control and toxicity. Head Neck 39: 1122–1130. https://doi.org/10.1002/hed.24733.

      4 Cooper, J.S., Pajak, T.F., Forastiere, A.A. et al. (2004). Postoperative concurrent radiotherapy and chemotherapy for high‐risk squamous‐cell carcinoma of the head and neck. N. Engl. J. Med. 350: 1937–1944.

      5 Gillison, M.L., Trotti, A.M., Harris, J. et al. (2019). Radiotherapy plus cetuximab or cisplatin in human papillomavirus‐positive oropharyngeal cancer (NRG oncology RTOG 1016): a randomised, multicentre, non‐inferiority trial. Lancet 393 (10166): 40–50.

      6 Hay, A., Migliacci, J., Karassawa Zanoni, D. et al. (2018). Haemorrhage following transoral robotic surgery. Clin. Otolaryngol. 43 (2): 638–644.

      7 Hinni, M.L., Zarka, M.A., and Hoxworth, J.M. (2013). Margin mapping in transoral surgery for head and neck cancer. Laryngoscope 123 (5): 1190–1198. https://doi.org/10.1002/lary.23900.

      8 Kubik, M., Mandal, R., Albergotti, W. et al. (2017). Effect of transcervical arterial ligation on the severity of postoperative hemorrhage after transoral robotic surgery. Head Neck 39 (8): 1510–1515.

      9 Lee, J.R., Kim, J.S., Roh, J.L. et al. (2015). Detection of occult primary tumors in patients with cervical metastases of unknown primary tumors: comparison of 18(F) FDG PET/CT with contrast‐enhanced CT or CT/MR imaging‐prospective study. Radiology 274: 764–771.

      10 Lewis,