Lee W. T. Alkureishi

Joint Practice Guidelines for Radionuclide Lymphoscintigraphy for Sentinel Node Localization in Oral/Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Involvement of the cervical lymph nodes is the most important prognostic factor for patients with oral/oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), and the decision of whether to electively treat patients with clinically negative necks remains a controversial topic. Sentinel node biopsy (SNB) provides a minimally invasive method for determining the disease status of the cervical node basin, without the need for a formal neck dissection. This technique potentially improves the accuracy of histologic nodal staging and avoids overtreating three-quarters of this patient population, minimizing associated morbidity. The technique has been validated for patients with OSCC, and larger-scale studies are in progress to determine its exact role in the management of this patient population. This document is designed to outline the current best practice guidelines for the provision of SNB in patients with early-stage OSCC, and to provide a framework for the currently evolving recommendations for its use. Preparation of this guideline was carried out by a multidisciplinary surgical/nuclear medicine/pathology expert panel under the joint auspices of the European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM) Oncology Committee and the Sentinel European Node Trial (SENT) Committee.

Sentinel node biopsy for early oral and oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma

The appearance of lymph node metastases represents the most important adverse prognostic factor in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Therefore, accurate staging of the cervical nodes is crucial in these patients. The management of the clinically and radiologically negative neck in patients with early oral and oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma is still controversial, though most centers favor elective neck dissection for staging of the neck and removal of occult disease. As only approximately 30% of patients harbor occult disease in the neck, most of the patients have to undergo elective neck dissection with no benefit. The sentinel node biopsy concept has been adopted from the treatment of melanoma and breast cancer to early oral and oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma during the last decade with great success. Multiple validation studies in the context of elective neck dissections revealed sentinel node detection rates above 95% and negative predictive values for negative sentinel nodes of 95%. Sentinel node biopsy has proven its ability to select patients with occult lymphatic disease for elective neck dissection, and to spare the costs and morbidity to patients with negative necks. Many centers meanwhile have abandoned routine elective neck dissection and entered in observational trials. These trials so far were able to confirm the high accuracy of the validation trials with less than 5% of the patients with negative sentinel nodes developing lymph node metastases during observation. In conclusion, sentinel node biopsy for early oral and oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma can be considered as safe and accurate, with success rates in controlling the neck comparable to elective neck dissection. This concept has the potential to become the new standard of care in the near future.

Joint practice guidelines for radionuclide lymphoscintigraphy for sentinel node localization in oral/oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma

Involvement of the cervical lymph nodes is the most important prognostic factor for patients with oral/oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), and the decision whether to electively treat patients with clinically negative necks remains a controversial topic. Sentinel node biopsy (SNB) provides a minimally invasive method of determining the disease status of the cervical node basin, without the need for a formal neck dissection. This technique potentially improves the accuracy of histological nodal staging and avoids over-treating three-quarters of this patient population, minimizing associated morbidity. The technique has been validated for patients with OSCC, and larger-scale studies are in progress to determine its exact role in the management of this patient population. This article was designed to outline the current best practice guidelines for the provision of SNB in patients with early-stage OSCC, and to provide a framework for the currently evolving recommendations for its use. These guidelines were prepared by a multidisciplinary surgical/nuclear medicine/pathology expert panel under the joint auspices of the European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM) Oncology Committee and the Sentinel European Node Trial Committee.

Does Tumor Depth Affect Nodal Upstaging in Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck

Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine whether tumor depth affects upstaging of the clinically node‐negative neck, as determined by sentinel lymph node biopsy with full pathologic evaluation of harvested nodes including step‐serial sectioning (SSS) and immunohistochemistry (IHC).

Implications of a positive sentinel node in oral squamous cell carcinoma.

The role of sentinel node biopsy in head and neck cancer is currently being explored. Patients with positive sentinel nodes were investigated to establish if additional metastases were present in the neck, their distribution, and their impact on outcome.

TUGs into VUGs and Friendly BUGs: Transforming the Gracilis Territory into the Best Secondary Breast Reconstructive Option.

Background: The best secondary option for autologous breast reconstruction remains controversial. Limitations of the gracilis myocutaneous flap, including volume, skin paddle reliability, and donor morbidity, have been addressed by several modifications, hereby expanding its role in the decision tree for autologous breast reconstruction. This report documents the authors’ experience with gracilis flap breast reconstruction. Methods: This is a retrospective case series of a prospectively maintained database of patients undergoing breast reconstruction with the free gracilis myocutaneous flap, including the transverse upper gracilis, vertical upper gracilis, and bilateral stacked vertical upper gracilis. Results: Twenty-two patients received gracilis myocutaneous flaps. Fourteen (63.6 percent) had previous attempted breast reconstructions. Indications for gracilis donor site were previous abdominoplasty/abdominal flap (n = 15, 68 percent), insufficient abdominal tissue (n = 6, 27 percent), and patient preference (n = 1, 5 percent). Six patients underwent bilateral reconstruction, and five underwent unilateral reconstruction with bilateral stacked gracilis flaps. The skin paddle was transverse in four flaps (12 percent) and vertical in 29 (88 percent). There was one flap loss (3 percent); there were two occurrences of fat necrosis (6 percent). There were two minor donor site dehiscences (6 percent), one infection (3 percent), and one seroma (3 percent). Conclusions: The free gracilis flap is a versatile option for patients undergoing breast reconstruction, particularly when the abdominal donor site is unavailable. The vertical pattern is the authors’ preferred technique, as it avoids some of the problems associated with transverse patterns. Stacked flaps further expand the utility of this technique, which the authors regard as the best secondary option for autologous breast reconstruction. CLINICAL QUESTION/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic, IV.

Sentinel node biopsy in floor of mouth cancers: the need to clear level I

Tumour lymphatic spread in head and neck squamous cell carcinomas is the single most important prognostic indicator. With advances in histological examination, sentinel node biopsy is proving to be an accurate method for staging the clinically N0 neck. We have previously highlighted the difficulties in locating sentinel nodes in the neck from floor of mouth primaries. We also raised the question whether level I nodes should be cleared as part of sentinel node procedures in floor of mouth tumours. We describe a case which illustrates the difficulties encountered when performing sentinel node biopsies in patients with floor of mouth cancers and the rationale behind asking such a question.

Sentinel Node Biopsy

The presence of cervical lymph node metastases remains one of the most important prognostic factors for various solid tumours of the head and neck, including melanoma, squamous cell carcinoma and Merkel cell carcinoma. In patients with clinically evident neck involvement, the regional lymphatics clearly require directed treatment, and this may involve therapeutic neck dissection or radiotherapy. However, the decision whether or not to electively treat patients with clinically uninvolved cervical lymphatics is usually less clear-cut. On the one hand, elective neck dissection simultaneously allows for accurate pathologic neck staging and definitive surgical management of patients found to harbour occult metastatic disease. On the other hand, the majority of patients with clinically negative necks do not harbour occult disease and would therefore be overtreated by an elective neck dissection. The significant morbidity associated with neck dissection means that this is a real concern, and efforts to minimise the extent of surgical intervention while maintaining oncologic safety are ongoing.