Karen T. Pitman

More aggressive behavior of squamous cell carcinoma of the anterior tongue in young women.

Objective To review the combined experience from two large medical centers in treating young female patients with anterior tongue cancer to determine the clinical course of this unique subset of patients.

The role of skull base surgery for the treatment of adenoid cystic carcinoma of the sinonasal tract

Adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) of the sinonasal tract is an aggressive malignancy associated with a poor 5‐year survival rate. The role of skull base surgery for the treatment of patients presenting with sinonasal ACC and its impact upon their survival has not previously been evaluated.

My voice: A physician's personal experience with throat cancer

BookSurge Publishing. Paperback. Book Condition: New. Paperback. 282 pages. Dimensions: 8.9in. x 6.0in. x 0.8in.The book captures three years of the authors life following a diagnosis of throat cancer and tells the story of how he faces and deals with medical and surgical treatments and adjusts to life afterwards. As a physician with lifelong experience in caring for patients, the author shares his insights and perspective on these events as he undergoes the effects of a severe illness through the...

Endoscopic sentinel lymph node dissection in human cadavers.

Management of the clinically N0 neck in early stage head and neck squamous cell carcinoma remains a challenge for clinicians. Physical examination and radiographic imaging lack the sensitivity and specificity to accurately stage N0 patients leading many surgeons to recommend elective neck dissection for clinically N0 patients whose risk of occult metastasis is greater than 15% to 20%. Pathologic nodal staging is the gold standard, although it does carry morbidity and increased cost of elective neck dissection. Clinicians have been investigating less invasive methods for staging clinically N0 patients. Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) is a minimally invasive method of staging the regional lymphatics. SLNB has been effectively utilized in urologic and breast malignancies as well as cutaneous melanoma. There is mounting evidence that SLNB is a viable option in SCC of the upper aerodigestive tract. Recent studies have successfully identified the SLN in 93% of patients with T1 and T2 N0 carcinomas in the oral cavity and oropharynx and demonstrated that the SLN accurately predicted pathologic N stage in 97% of patients with early stage oral cavity tumors. Drawbacks in the use of SLNB in the head and neck include unsatisfactory placement of incisions, the number of nodes requiring biopsy, and key structures adjacent to nodes that may be difficult to identify through small SLNB incisions. An endoscopic approach could resolve these concerns. At our institution, we have previously demonstrated that SLNB is technically feasible in the porcine model. We now seek to evaluate our technique in human cadavers. Endoscopic Sentinel Lymph Node Dissection in Human Cadavers