José Antonio Cernuda Martínez

Comparison of three prophylactic antibiotic regimens in clean-contaminated head and neck surgery

Although appropriate perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis has significantly reduced wound infection rates in clean‐contaminated head and neck surgical procedures, controversy still remains regarding the optimal antibiotic regimen.

Supraglottic Laryngectomy with or without Postoperative Radiotherapy in Supraglottic Carcinomas

A retrospective review of 193 previously untreated patients with primary supraglottic carcinoma was undertaken to ascertain the efficacy of postoperative radiotherapy. All the patients received a supraglottic laryngectomy, and patients received a total of 284 elective or therapeutic neck dissections. Ninety-four (48.7%) of the patients received postoperative radiotherapy. The incidence of local recurrence was 8.2%, but the recurrence rate was unrelated to the use of postoperative radiotherapy. Neck recurrence was observed in 12.9% of patients, with no influence of postoperative radiotherapy in the dissected neck. The incidence of locoregional recurrences by stage in irradiated and nonirradiated patients did not reach significant difference. The 3-year survival was 74.3%. The overall survival of the whole series and by stage was not statistically altered in combined therapy compared to surgery.

Variability of Genetic Alterations in Different Sites of Head and Neck Cancer

Objective Tumors arising from different sites of the head and neck area have different clinical behavior. However, most of the studies on genetic alterations in head and neck squamous cell carcinomas do not make a distinction between the sites within this area. The objective of this study is to compare the genetic alterations in three different sites of the head and neck (larynx, oropharynx, and hypopharynx).

Relationship of human papillomavirus to ploidy in squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck.

To establish the relationship between the presence of human papillomavirus (HPV) gene sequences and the development of genetic abnormalities, 31 squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck were studied for the presence of HPV types 6b and 16 and the DNA content by flow cytometry. Eighteen (58%) cases were aneuploid. HPV DNA was present in seven (22.5%) tumors. Five of them were positive for the HPV type 6b and two for the HPV type 16. Aneuploidy was correlated with poorly differentiated tumors. No correlation was found between the presence of HPV, DNA content, or tumor differentiation. Consequently, the presence of HPV gene sequences does not seem to be related to a higher incidence of genetic abnormalities in squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck.