Hidetaka Tanaka

Results of Orbital Preservation for Advanced Malignant Maxillary Sinus Tumors

Objective The purpose of the study was to examine the oncological and functional outcomes of multimodality therapy for patients with advanced malignant maxillary sinus tumors that invaded the orbit.

Parotid small cell carcinoma presenting with long-term survival after surgery alone: a case report

IntroductionPrimary involvement of the salivary glands in small cell carcinoma is rare, and has one of the worst prognoses of salivary gland neoplasms. However, it has been reported that some cases have a favorable outcome, although the prognostic factors are still under consideration. Multidisciplinary therapy was usually required to achieve long-term survival. Recently, a resemblance of some small cell carcinomas of the salivary gland to cutaneous Merkel cell carcinoma was suggested; the latter have the potential for spontaneous regression, which is related to a favorable clinical outcome.Case presentationWe present a locoregional advanced parotid small cell carcinoma with multiple lymph node metastases in an 87-year-old Asian woman. The tumor was controlled by surgery alone, and nine-year disease-free survival was achieved without any adjunctive therapy. To the best of our knowledge, this is the longest reported follow-up of head and neck small cell carcinoma.ConclusionWe believe this to be the first case of small cell carcinoma with involvement of the salivary glands reported in the literature with a good outcome after surgery alone without any adjunctive therapy.

Surgical Treatment for Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Lateral Wall of the Oropharynx; A Transoral Approach.

The outcome of radiation therapy or surgery was studied retrospectively in 30 previously untreated patients with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the lateral wall of the oropharynx. Twenty-two patients with tonsillar SCC and 8 patients with tonsillar pillar SCC were treated between 1978 and 1997 at the Jichi Medical School Hospital. The group consisted of 25 men and 5 women, aged 34 to 82 years (average, 63 years). In the tonsillar SCC group, lesions were T1 in 2 cases, T2 in 2, T3 in 13, and T4 in 5; 5, 3, 12 and 2 patients had NO, N1, N2, and N3 disease, respectively. In the tonsillar pillar SCC group, lesions were T2 in 5 cases, T3 in 2, and T4 in 1; 6 patients had NO, 1 had N1, and 1 had N2 disease. Fourteen patients were treated with radiation and 16 were treated with surgery, 14 of whom also received preoperative irradiation. Eleven patients in the surgery group underwent resection by a transoral approach and 5 underwent extended surgery with reconstruction. Disease-free survival rate at 3 years by the Kaplan-Meier method was 64% in the radiation group and 78% in the surgery group (not significantly different) in those with tonsillar SCC, and 67% and 82%, respectively, (not significantly different) in those with tonsillar pillar SCC. The surgical approach was transoral in patients with noninvasive T2 or T3 primary lesions. No local recurrence was observed. Transoral resection appears to be useful for treating noninvasive lateral wall SCC of the oropharynx.