Search Our Scientific Publications & Authors

Ann Nucl Med 2020 Jun 29. Epub 2020 Jun 29.

Department of Head and Neck Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey.

Purpose: Medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) arises from neuroendocrine C cells of the thyroid. There is no single diagnostic imaging method that can reveal all MTC recurrences or metastases. Ga-DOTATATE is an alternative PET radiotracer that showed acceptable efficacy in the detection of MTC. Read More

Endokrynol Pol 2020 Jun 29. Epub 2020 Jun 29.

Pathology Department, District Hospital, Arkonska 4, 71-455 Szczecin, Poland.

Background: The regional lymph node metastases of papillary thyroid carcinoma are very common. Subclinical neck lymphatic malignancy of the undiagnosed papillary carcinoma can be found by chance at autopsy or intravitally, especially during neck imaging scrutiny for other reasons. And cervical lymph node metastasis as the initial manifestation of occult papillary thyroid carcinoma is very rare phenomenon. Read More

Biomed Pap Med Fac Univ Palacky Olomouc Czech Repub 2020 Jun 26. Epub 2020 Jun 26.

Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University Hospital Ostrava, Czech Republic.

Introduction: In patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the orofacial area, the presence of cervical metastases represents a single most significant prognostic factor. This fact underlines the importance of thorough examination of the cervical lymph nodes for potential tumor involvement. To verify this, the most common investigative methods are physical examination (PE), sonography (US) and computed tomography (CT), which have also been used to assess the stage of the disease in the patients in our research. Read More

Oncol Res Treat 2020 Jun 19:1-7. Epub 2020 Jun 19.

Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Maxillofacial Surgery, Maribor University Clinical Center, Maribor, Slovenia.

Purpose: Neck metastases in breast carcinoma are relatively rare and patients show poor survival rates. A controversy exists over whether neck metastases can be treated as distant or loco-regional metastases. The literature concerning the distribution of metastases in the neck is lacking, as well as data about whether metastases in the higher neck regions cause poorer survival than those in the supraclavicular fossa. Read More

Eur Thyroid J 2020 May 9;9(3):162-168. Epub 2020 Apr 9.

First Department of Pathology/University of Athens, Medical School, Athens, Greece.

Introduction: Leukocytosis and particularly neutrophilia are usually caused by acute infection, inflammation, and myeloproliferative neoplasms. However, leukocytosis can also occur in patients with malignancy either due to bone marrow metastases or in the context of a paraneoplastic syndrome.

Case Presentation: An 86-year-old female was admitted to our hospital due to marked leukocytosis (white blood cells [WBC] >40,000/μL), neutrophilia, and monocytosis. Read More

Cancer Radiother 2020 May 21. Epub 2020 May 21.

Département de médecine nucléaire, centre Henri-Becquerel, 1, rue d'Amiens, 76038 Rouen, France; QuantIF-Litis, EA 4108, faculté de médecine, université de Rouen, 22, boulevard Gambetta, 76000 Rouen, France.

The assessment of tumour response during and after radiotherapy determines the subsequent management of patients (adaptation of treatment plan, monitoring, adjuvant treatment, rescue treatment or palliative care). In addition to its role in extension assessment and therapeutic planning, positron emission tomography combined with computed tomography provides useful functional information for the evaluation of tumour response. The objective of this article is to review published data on positron emission tomography combined with computed tomography as a tool for evaluating external radiotherapy for cancers. Read More

Clin Transl Radiat Oncol 2020 Jul 23;23:60-64. Epub 2020 Apr 23.

Unit of Otorhinolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Department of Medical and Surgical Specialties, Radiological Sciences, and Public Health, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy.

Aim: In a pilot prospective study, we aimed to test the feasibility and report on the preliminary results on the expression of molecular biomarkers in wound drainage fluids (WDFs) of operated head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients.

Material And Methods: Nineteen patients undergoing primary tumor resection with en-block neck dissection were enrolled. In postoperative days 1-3, the expression of several biomarkers in WDFs was measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits and correlated with clinical and histopathologic features. Read More

Mol Ther Nucleic Acids 2020 Jun 21;20:711-724. Epub 2020 Apr 21.

Department of Precision Medicine, University of Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli," Naples, Italy; IRGS, Biogem, Molecular Oncology and Precision Medicine Laboratory, Via Camporeale, 83031 Ariano Irpino, Italy. Electronic address:

Laryngeal cancer (LCa), a neoplasm of the head and neck region, is a leading cause of death worldwide. Surgical intervention remains the mainstay of LCa treatment, but a crucial point is represented by the possible nodal involvement. Therefore, it is urgently needed to develop biomarkers and therapeutic tools able to drive treatment approaches for LCa. Read More

Clin Otolaryngol 2020 May 3. Epub 2020 May 3.

Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia.

Objective: To investigate possible metastasis predictors for neck sublevel IIb in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) with lateral neck metastasis and to determine the reliability of preoperative ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) as a method of detecting positive lymph nodes in sublevel IIa in comparison with the finding of definitive pathohistological analysis.

Design: Prospective study with patients with proven lateral neck metastases from PTC at the time of initial diagnosis. All patients had total thyroidectomy, central neck dissection (level VI) and selective neck dissection (levels II-V). Read More

Medicine (Baltimore) 2020 May;99(18):e19793

Department of Otorhinolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Kyungpook National University Chilgok Hospital, Daegu, South Korea.

Rationale: Many previous studies have investigated the necessity of routine histopathological analysis of tonsillectomy specimen, and most recent studies have suggested that such an analysis is not justified in asymptomatic patients or those with no risk factors for malignancy.

Patient Concerns: A 59-year-old man diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea underwent surgery, including tonsillectomy; a tonsil specimen was sent to the department of pathology.

Diagnosis: Although the patient did not exhibit any tonsil-related signs or symptoms, nor did the appearance of the tonsil appear to be pathological, the right tonsil specimen was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma, with detection of human papilloma virus 16. Read More

Cancer Genomics Proteomics 2020 May-Jun;17(3):259-269

Cytogenetics and Genomics Laboratory, Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

Background/aim: Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) presents high morbidity, an overall poor prognosis and survival, and a compromised quality of life of the survivors. Early tumor detection, prediction of its behavior and prognosis as well as the development of novel therapeutic strategies are urgently needed for a more successful HNSCC management.

Materials And Methods: In this study, a proteomics analysis of HNSCC tumor and non-tumor samples was performed and a model to predict the risk of recurrence and metastasis development was built. Read More

Int J Endocrinol 2020 4;2020:9267972. Epub 2020 Apr 4.

Endocrinology Department, Instituto Português de Oncologia de Coimbra Francisco Gentil, EPE, Coimbra, Portugal.

Introduction: The diagnostic value of calcitonin (CT) measurement in fine-needle aspirate washout (FNA-CT) for medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) lymph node (LN) metastases remains to be determined. It may increase the diagnostic sensitivity, but data on this subject is sparse.

Objective: Our study aimed to evaluate the utility of FNA-CT in the diagnosis of LN metastases of MTC. Read More

Ultrasonography 2020 Jul 9;39(3):247-256. Epub 2020 Feb 9.

Department of Radiology, Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital, Yangsan, Korea.

Purpose: This study was conducted to determine which factors influence the ability of abdominal ultrasonography (US) to detect focal pancreatic lesions identified using endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS).

Methods: In this study, 338 consecutive patients with focal pancreatic lesions (cyst, n=253; adenocarcinoma, n=54; pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor, n=24; solid pseudopapillary neoplasm, n=4; intrapancreatic accessory spleen, n=1; metastasis, n=1; and lymphoma, n=1) detected by EUS who underwent US were enrolled. We reviewed their radiologic reports and assessed the presence or absence of a focal lesion, the multiplicity of the lesions, and their size and location on US. Read More

J Transl Med 2020 Apr 15;18(1):167. Epub 2020 Apr 15.

Center for Translational Research and Molecular Biology of Cancer, Maria Sklodowska-Curie National Research Institute of Oncology Gliwice Branch, Wybrzeze Armii Krajowej 15, 44-101, Gliwice, Poland.

Background: Early detection of treatment failure may improve clinical outcome and overall survival in patients with head and neck cancer after first-line treatment. Circulating cell-free HPV16 DNA (cfHPV16 DNA) was evaluated as a possible complementary marker to radiological assessment of early response in patients with HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer (OPC) after radiotherapy alone or combined with chemotherapy.

Methods: The study included 66 patients with HPV-related OPC receiving radical radiotherapy alone or in combination with chemotherapy. Read More

J BUON 2020 Jan-Feb;25(1):376-382

Surgical Oncology Clinic, Institute for Oncology and Radiology of Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia.

Purpose: The incidence of histologically proven lymph node metastases (LNM) in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) reaches 80%. According to different guidelines surgical management in clinically N0 (cN0) patients with PTC remains controversial. The purpose of this study was to investigate if sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNb) using methylene blue dye is accurate in the detection of LNM in the lateral neck compartment in cN0 patients with PTC. Read More

Ann Surg Oncol 2020 Apr 7. Epub 2020 Apr 7.

Department of Surgery, Melanoma and Sarcoma, Barretos Cancer Hospital, Barretos, SP, Brazil.

Background: Sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy is the standard care for early detection and staging of lymph node metastasis in melanomas. Radiocolloids (RC) and blue dyes are used for SLN detection. Recently, near infrared (NIR) fluorescence tracing using indocyanine green has been developed as an alternative method for SLN detection. Read More

Oral Oncol 2020 06 2;105:104635. Epub 2020 Apr 2.

School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA. Electronic address:

Introduction: Incomplete head and neck cancer resection occurs in up to 85% of cases, leading to increased odds of local recurrence and regional metastases; thus, image-guided surgical tools for accurate, in situ and fast detection of positive margins during head and neck cancer resection surgery are urgently needed. Oral epithelial dysplasia and cancer development is accompanied by morphological, biochemical, and metabolic tissue and cellular alterations that can modulate the autofluorescence properties of the oral epithelial tissue.

Objective: This study aimed to test the hypothesis that autofluorescence biomarkers of oral precancer and cancer can be clinically imaged and quantified by means of multispectral fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM) endoscopy. Read More

PLoS One 2020 24;15(3):e0221779. Epub 2020 Mar 24.

School of Dentistry and Oral Health, Griffith University Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.

Backgrounds: MicroRNAs (miRNA) are a class of non-protein-coding RNAs that have significant biological and pathological functions. The importance of miRNAs as potential cancer diagnostic biomarkers is gaining attention due to their influence in the regulation of cellular processes such as cell differentiation, proliferation and apoptosis. The aim of this study was to identify significant miRNAs from saliva as potential diagnostic biomarkers in the early diagnosis and prognosis of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Read More

BMC Cancer 2020 Mar 20;20(1):239. Epub 2020 Mar 20.

Unit of Nuclear Medicine, Department of Medical, Surgical and Experimental Sciences, University of Sassari, Viale San Pietro 8, 07100, Sassari, Italy.

Background: The identification of neck lymph node (LN) metastases represents a very important issue in the management of patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC). To this purpose, in the present study, we used 131I-SPECT/CT as a diagnostic imaging procedure.

Methods: A consecutive series of 224 DTC patients with ascertained neck radioiodine-avid foci at I-SPECT/CT during long-term follow-up was evaluated. Read More

J Comput Assist Tomogr 2020 Mar/Apr;44(2):262-268

Otorhinolaringology, School of Medicine, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the diagnostic performance of multiphasic computed tomography (CT) in the discrimination of metastatic lymph nodes (LNs) of papillary thyroid cancer by using quantitative parameters.

Methods: This study enrolled 272 pathologically proven metastatic and benign LNs. Multiphasic CT was utilized by using nonenhanced, arterial (25-second delay), and venous (80-second delay) phases. Read More

World J Nucl Med 2020 Jan-Mar;19(1):47-51. Epub 2019 Jul 23.

Radiation Oncology, Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan.

Carcinoma of unknown primary (CUP) is defined as biopsy proven tumor metastases that remains unidentified after a thorough diagnostic evaluation. The purpose of this study was to find the detection efficiency of F-flourodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG PET/CT) in patients with CUP. This prospective study was conducted at PET/CT Section of Department of Radiology, Aga Khan University Hospital Karachi, Pakistan from August 2017 to January 2018. Read More

Cancer Sci 2020 Jun 16;111(6):2163-2173. Epub 2020 Apr 16.

Department of Head, Neck and Thyroid Surgery, Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital, People's Hospital of Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, China.

Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is the most common malignancy of the thyroid gland, with a relatively high cure rate. Distant metastasis (DM) of PTC is uncommon, but when it occurs, it significantly decreases the survival of PTC patients. The molecular mechanisms of DM in PTC have not been systematically studied. Read More

Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol 2020 Apr 2;129(4):418-426. Epub 2019 Oct 2.

Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Peking University School and Hospital of Stomatology, Beijing, China. Electronic address:

Objective: To measure the efficacy of positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) in the diagnosis of neck metastases of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) in patients without enlarged lymph nodes and to determine the threshold of maximum standardized uptake values (SUV) in diagnosis.

Study Design: In total, 78 OSCC patients without large palpable lymph nodes were included. PET/CT findings were compared with histopathologic neck status. Read More

World J Surg 2020 Jun;44(6):1892-1897

THANC (Thyroid, Head and Neck Cancer) Foundation, 10 Union Square East, New York, NY, 10003, USA.

Background: Current American Thyroid Association (ATA) guidelines state that patients with intermediate-risk papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) may benefit from remnant ablation. One criterion for intermediate-risk classification is >5 positive lymph nodes (LNs). We investigate whether performing step-sectioning of LNs increases the metastatic detection rate, thereby influencing ATA risk of recurrence (ROR) classification. Read More

Diagnostics (Basel) 2020 Feb 11;10(2). Epub 2020 Feb 11.

Department of Maxillofacial Surgery, Faculty of Medicine Pristina, 10000 Pristina, Kosovo.

The aim of this study was to detect lower lip squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) that had metastasized to the lymph nodes and to evaluate if neck dissection was necessary for patients with T1 or T2-stage lip cancer after a sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB). The study was conducted as a prospective clinical study to detect occult neck metastases in patients with T1 or T2 stage SCC of the lower lip. Thirty-one patients were eligible and underwent echo-ultrasound, computer tomography, magnetic resonance and lymphoscintigraphy (LSG) as diagnostic procedures. Read More

Curr Pharm Des 2020 Feb 12. Epub 2020 Feb 12.

Division of ENT Diseases, Department of Clinical Sciences, Intervention and Technology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm. Sweden.

Background: Occult metastases are common in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) which is why elective neck dissection, adjuvant radiotherapy or watchful waiting have been treatment options after surgical removal of the primary tumour. Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB), has lately emerged as a novel possibility in treatment planning. Even though the SLNB technique is constantly improving, it has not yet been firmly established in the assessment of head and neck cancer. Read More

Front Oncol 2020 24;10:15. Epub 2020 Jan 24.

Department of Radiation Oncology, Affiliated Cancer Hospital & Institute of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China.

Osteoradionecrosis (ORN) of the cervical spine is a serious complication after radiotherapy (RT), which may show increased radiotracer uptake on a bone scan (BS) and be mistaken as metastasis. We aimed to assess the value of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the differentiation of cervical spine ORN from bone metastasis after RT detected by BS in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). In this retrospective study, 35 NPC patients who had undergone RT were enrolled, of whom 21 patients showed cervical spine ORN and 14 showed bone metastasis. Read More

J Vasc Surg 2020 May 5;71(5):1602-1612.e2. Epub 2020 Feb 5.

Department of Vascular Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.

Background: Genetic testing to identify succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) mutations in patients with head and neck paraganglioma (HNP) has been in clinical practice for more than a decade. However, the recurrence and metachronous tumor occurrence risks in surgically treated mutation-positive patients are not well studied.

Methods: Clinical and procedural details of consecutive patients who underwent excision for HNP from January 1996 to October 2016 were retrospectively reviewed. Read More

Br J Surg 2020 May 5;107(6):687-694. Epub 2020 Feb 5.

Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Kyungpook National University, 130 Dongdeok-ro, Jung-gu, Daegu, 41944, Korea.

Background: This study evaluated the incidence, patterns and risk factors for recurrence after hemithyroidectomy in patients with low- and intermediate-risk papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC), and verified the predictive role of the risk staging systems in current use.

Methods: The clinicopathological characteristics and risk categories were analysed according to recurrence in patients who underwent hemithyroidectomy for low- and intermediate-risk conventional PTC, and were followed up for at least 24 months. Five risk staging systems were used to stratify risk: the 2015 American Thyroid Association (ATA) system; Age, Metastases, Extent and Size (AMES) system; Metastases, Age, Complete resection, Invasion and Size (MACIS) system; Grade, Age, Metastases, Extent and Size (GAMES) system; and the eighth AJCC system. Read More

Anticancer Res 2020 Feb;40(2):1127-1133

Department of Head and Neck Surgery, Aichi Cancer Center, Nagoya, Japan.

Aim: To investigate the association between survival outcomes and clinicopathological factors, including pathological restaging based on the UICC8, among patients with recurrence differentiated thyroid carcinoma undergoing salvage surgery of local site.

Patients And Methods: A total of 54 patients who underwent salvage surgery of local site for recurrence differentiated thyroid carcinoma were enrolled. The optimal cutoff ages at salvage surgery for predicting death and cancer-specific death were determined by receiver operating curve analysis. Read More

J Community Hosp Intern Med Perspect 2019 14;9(6):524-528. Epub 2019 Dec 14.

Department of Medical Oncology, New York Cancer and Blood Specialists, Patchogue, NY, USA.

Tonsillar carcinoma metastasis to the myocardium is undermined with detection rate often occurring at autopsy or advance stage. A 60-year-old male with a 1-month history of right-sided facial pain and failed antibiotics therapy underwent head and neck CT scan that revealed a tonsillar mass. Tonsillar biopsy revealed squamous cell carcinoma, HPV-16 positive. Read More

AACE Clin Case Rep 2019 Sep-Oct;5(5):e311-e315. Epub 2019 Jun 26.

Objective: Radioiodine ablation with iodine-131 is a standard therapeutic procedure for patients diagnosed with differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC). We present a contamination artifact on whole-body scan (WBS), after radioiodine ablation due to papillary thyroid carcinoma. The hybrid imaging resolved the question of metastasis versus contamination. Read More

Laryngorhinootologie 2020 Jan 14;99(1):12-21. Epub 2020 Jan 14.

Abteilung für Nuklearmedizin, Universitätsklinikum Regensburg, Regensburg.

Positron emission tomography (PET) with F-fluordeoxyglucose (FDG) in combination with computed tomography (CT) is well established for the diagnostic work-up of patients with head and neck cancer. Possible applications include the detection of an occult primary tumor metastatic to cervical nodes, locoregional staging, assessment of treatment response to external beam irradiation (also in combination with chemotherapy), and surveillance for recurrence. The success of high-precision irradiation techniques such as intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) appears to be improved by delineating the tumor volume using PET/CT. Read More

Lin Chung Er Bi Yan Hou Tou Jing Wai Ke Za Zhi 2019 Nov;33(11):1017-1021

Laryngeal cancer remains one of the most common tumors of head and neck. While significant advancements have been made over the last several decades, diagnosis and treatment of laryngeal cancer presents an unique challenge given its complexity. It is essential to perform a thorough preoperative assessment by the dedicated multidisciplinary team（MDT）, including confirmed diagnosis, accurate staging, surgical selection, rehabilitation and reconstruction, supportive care and postoperative follow-up. Read More

Pathology 2020 Feb 27;52(2):179-191. Epub 2019 Dec 27.

Department of Anatomical Pathology, ACT Pathology, The Canberra Hospital, Woden, ACT, Australia; Australian National University Medical School, College of Health and Medicine, Canberra, ACT, Australia. Electronic address:

High-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) positive squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the head and neck is reported most commonly in the oropharynx but can also uncommonly be found in other sites such as the anterior oral cavity and sinonasal tract. While HPV positive oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (HPV-OPSCC) has been shown to have a more favourable prognosis than conventional smoking- and alcohol-related anterior oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), HPV positive SCC arising elsewhere in the head and neck region does not carry the same favourable prognosis. HPV-OPSCC often tends to present with large cystic metastases in the cervical lymph nodes, with a clinically and radiologically occult primary. Read More

Facial Plast Surg 2020 Jun 30;36(3):249-254. Epub 2019 Dec 30.

Department of Dermatology, University Hospital Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany.

Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a rare and aggressive neuroendocrine skin tumor with a high propensity for nodal involvement, local recurrence, and distant metastases. Up to 50% of MCC arises on head and neck (HN), which may impede oncological treatment due to insufficiently wide excisions and a lower rate of sentinel lymph node detection due to more complicated lymph drainage. Several studies have compared the clinical outcome of HN-MCC with those of non-head and neck (NHN) MCC yielding inconsistent results. Read More

Medicine (Baltimore) 2019 Dec;98(50):e18093

Nuclear Medicine Unit, Department of Interdisciplinary Medicine, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Bari, Italy.

Rationale: Papillary renal cell carcinoma (PRCC) accounts for about 15% to 20% of renal cell carcinoma and is histologically distinguished in type I and type II. The last one is associated with poorer prognosis.Treatment options for PRCC patients are surgery, immunotherapy, revolutionized by Nivolumab, and other target-therapy with an improvement in overall survival. Read More

Sci Adv 2019 12 4;5(12):eaax5208. Epub 2019 Dec 4.

Department of Radiology, Sloan Kettering Institute for Cancer Research, New York, NY 10065, USA.

Accurate detection and quantification of metastases in regional lymph nodes remain a vital prognostic predictor for cancer staging and clinical outcomes. As intratumoral heterogeneity poses a major hurdle to effective treatment planning, more reliable image-guided, cancer-targeted optical multiplexing tools are critically needed in the operative suite. For sentinel lymph node mapping indications, accurately interrogating distinct molecular signatures on cancer cells in vivo with differential levels of sensitivity and specificity remains largely unexplored. Read More

Ann Plast Surg 2020 01;84(1S Suppl 1):S11-S16

From the Division of Plastic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Chi Mei Medical Center, Tainan, Taiwan.

Objectives: Metastasis of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) usually occurs regionally in the neck lymph nodes, but also more infrequently at distant organs (eg, the lungs, bone, and liver). Intramuscular metastasis (IMM) has rarely been described. Therefore, we aimed to identify this disease characteristic and to evaluate available medical management options. Read More

Endocr J 2020 Mar 3;67(3):295-304. Epub 2019 Dec 3.

Surgical Oncology Clinic, Institute for Oncology and Radiology of Serbia, Belgrade, 11000, Serbia.

The aim of this prospective study was to analyze accuracy of sentinel lymph node biopsy with methylene blue dye for intraoperative detection of lateral metastases in clinically N0M0 medullary microcarcinomas with calcitonin <1,000 pg/mL and selection of true-positive patients for one-time therapeutic lateral dissection. In addition to total thyroidectomy and central neck dissection, all patients had bilateral sentinel biopsy of jugulo-carotid regions after methylene blue injection to decide upon necessity for lateral dissection. If sentinels were benign on frozen section, additional non-sentinels were extirpated, with no further lateral dissection. Read More

Ann Surg Oncol 2020 May 20;27(5):1356-1360. Epub 2019 Nov 20.

Department of Surgery, Police General Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, Siam University, Bangkok, Thailand.

Background: Early detection of thyroid carcinoma has become commonplace. Consequently, the endoscopic approach has become a widely used method.

Objective: Our aim was to report our experience with the transoral endoscopic thyroidectomy vestibular approach (TOETVA). Read More

J Comput Assist Tomogr 2019 Nov/Dec;43(6):970-975

From the Departments of Radiology.

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the value of dual-energy computed tomography (DECT) for the diagnosis of cervical lymph node metastasis in papillary thyroid cancer.

Methods: The normalized iodine concentration (NIC) and the slope of the spectral Hounsfield unit curve (λHU) in the arterial and venous phases were measured using iodine-overlay images and spectral curves. Quantitative DECT data and qualitative conventional CT data were analyzed by radiologists. Read More

Endocr J 2020 Feb 14;67(2):113-123. Epub 2019 Nov 14.

Department of Neurosurgeon, Zhejiang Cancer Hospital, Hangzhou 310022, People's Republic of China.

Thyroglobulin measurement in the needle washout after fine-needle aspiration (FNA-Tg) served as an important measurement for suspicious recurrent or metastatic lesions. We conducted a pooled analysis to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of FNA-Tg and searched electronic databases for original articles in English from 1993 through 2017. Finally, a total of 22 studies containing 2,670 lymph nodes (LNs) that enrolled participants with suspicious neck LNs during thyroid nodule workup or papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) follow-up were included. Read More

J Cancer Res Clin Oncol 2020 Jan 12;146(1):237-244. Epub 2019 Oct 12.

Department of Otolaryngology, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, 88 Olympic-ro 43-gil, Songpa-gu, Seoul, 05505, Republic of Korea.

Purpose: Subclinical lymph node (LN) metastasis is associated with poor survival outcome in oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OCC), which alleges elective neck LN dissection. Preoperative detection of metastatic LNs may improve prognosis and proper management of OCC. We examined the clinical usefulness of fluorine 18-fluorodeoxyglucose (F-FDG) positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) for the detection of occult neck LN metastasis in OCC patients in comparison with conventional CT/magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. Read More

Br J Radiol 2019 Dec 15;92(1104):20190466. Epub 2019 Oct 15.

Department of Radiation Oncology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.

Objective: One approach to reduce treatment-related morbidity for human papilloma virus (HPV)-associated tonsil cancer is omitting radiotherapy to the contralateral neck. Pathologic risk factors for early contralateral neck disease, however, are poorly understood. We report on the risk contralateral neck failures from the time of pre-operative diagnostic imaging to time of planning for adjuvant radiation in a single institution series of HPV-associated tonsillar cancer patients undergoing surgery followed by radiotherapy (RT). Read More

Ann Surg Oncol 2019 Dec 3;26(13):4439-4444. Epub 2019 Oct 3.

Department of Surgery, University Health Network, 200 Elizabeth Street, Toronto, ON, M5G 2C4, Canada.

Background: In the current guidelines for differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC), computed tomography (CT) of the neck has a limited role. The authors hypothesized that adding CT to the workup of clinically low-risk DTC size 4 cm or smaller changes the surgical management for a portion of patients due to detection of clinically significant lymph node metastases not located by ultrasound of the neck.

Methods: A prospective cohort of DTC patients at an academic referral center between 2012 and 2016 was reviewed. Read More

World J Surg 2020 Jan;44(1):142-147

Department of Surgery, Skåne University Hospital, Lund University, 22185, Lund, Sweden.

Background: Prophylactic central neck dissection in patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma is controversial. Sentinel node biopsy might be an adjunct to optimize surgical treatment for these patients. Earlier studies reported inconsistent detection rates and diagnostic value of this technique, and the role of sentinel lymph node biopsy in thyroid cancer needs to be established. Read More

Sci Rep 2019 10 1;9(1):14043. Epub 2019 Oct 1.

Department of Bioengineering, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, USA.

Primary management for head and neck cancers, including squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), involves surgical resection with negative cancer margins. Pathologists guide surgeons during these operations by detecting cancer in histology slides made from the excised tissue. In this study, 381 digitized, histological whole-slide images (WSI) from 156 patients with head and neck cancer were used to train, validate, and test an inception-v4 convolutional neural network. Read More

Front Endocrinol (Lausanne) 2019 11;10:612. Epub 2019 Sep 11.

Department of Endocrine Neoplasia and Hormonal Disorders, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, United States.

The Afirma® Xpression Atlas (XA) detects gene variants and fusions in thyroid nodule FNA samples from a curated panel of 511 genes using whole-transcriptome RNA-sequencing. Its intended use is among cytologically indeterminate nodules that are Afirma GSC suspicious, Bethesda V/VI nodules, or known thyroid metastases. Here we report its analytical and clinical validation. Read More

Indian J Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 2019 Sep 20;71(3):396-400. Epub 2018 Jun 20.

2Department of Sciences for Health Promotion and Mother-Child Care "G. D'Alessandro", Polyclinic University Hospital "Paolo Giaccone", University of Palermo, Via del Vespro, 133, 90127 Palermo, Italy.

To evaluate whether EBV-DNA can be used as a diagnostic and follow-up parameter for nasopharyngeal tumors in a non-endemic population. The study was carried out in a university hospital. A retrospective study was conducted on 40 paraffin samples of histological preparations. Read More