Advances in the Diagnosis and Management of Head and Neck Disease

A special issue of Diagnostics (ISSN 2075-4418). This special issue belongs to the section "Pathology and Molecular Diagnostics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2025 | Viewed by 3822

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Guest Editor
Laboratori Centrali, EO Ospedali Galliera, 16128 Genova, Italy
Interests: translational oncology; cancer genetics; epigenetics; biomarkers; head and neck cancer
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Head and neck disease (HND) management is incredibly challenging. Despite innovations in radiation oncology and immunotherapy introduction in the metastatic setting, prognosis in recurrent metastatic head and neck cancer is dismal.  

A proper classification and diagnosis of HND and the selection of adequate biomarkers, both predictive and prognostic, might change the future of HND management, which is currently dated, not personalized, and based on agnostic approaches.

Dr. Cristiana Lo Nigro
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • head and neck disease
  • oral and maxillofacial disease
  • throat cancer
  • thyroid disease
  • otolaryngology tumor

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 1344 KiB  
Article
Intraoperative Facial Nerve Monitoring during Parotidectomy: The Current Practices and Patterns of the Korean Society of Head and Neck Surgery (KSHNS)
by Dongbin Ahn, Ji Hye Kwak, Geun-Jeon Kim, Heejin Kim, Dong Won Lee and Kwang Jae Cho
Diagnostics 2024, 14(20), 2277; https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics14202277 - 13 Oct 2024
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Abstract
Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the current practices and trends of intraoperative facial nerve (FN) monitoring (IOFNM) during parotidectomy. Methods: A questionnaire containing 33 questions collecting information on the usage, indications, settings, techniques, loss of signal (LOS) management, anesthesiologist cooperation, and perception [...] Read more.
Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the current practices and trends of intraoperative facial nerve (FN) monitoring (IOFNM) during parotidectomy. Methods: A questionnaire containing 33 questions collecting information on the usage, indications, settings, techniques, loss of signal (LOS) management, anesthesiologist cooperation, and perception of usefulness of IOFNM was distributed among 348 members of the Korean Society of Head and Neck Surgery (KSHNS) via a dedicated website. Results: The response rate was approximately 25.6%, and 97% of the respondents reported using IOFNM selectively or routinely during parotidectomy. IOFNM usage decreased as the surgeon’s level of experience increased (p = 0.089), from 100% in those with less than 5 years of experience to 75% in those with 20 or more years. Approximately 95% of respondents reported that the initial event threshold for electromyography activity used was 50–149 μV. Moreover, 52.4% of respondents performed neural mapping of the FN before visual identification. Initial management of LOS in visually intact FNs included checking the IOFNM system (75.3%), confirmation of muscle relaxant dosage (75.3%), and facial twitch identification (58.8%). Further management included proceeding with surgery regardless of persistent LOS (81.2%) and steroid administration sometimes or all of the time (72.9%). Overall, 98.8% of respondents found IOFNM beneficial for safe execution of parotidectomy. Conclusions: The majority of KSHNS surgeons used IOFNM during parotidectomy, although the clinical implementation of the procedure and LOS management varied between practitioners. This could be attributed to the lack of standardized protocols for IOFNM, emphasizing the need for the development of evidence-based consensus guidelines for all institutions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in the Diagnosis and Management of Head and Neck Disease)
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19 pages, 3179 KiB  
Article
Enhancing Predictive Accuracy for Recurrence-Free Survival in Head and Neck Tumor: A Comparative Study of Weighted Fusion Radiomic Analysis
by Mohammed A. Mahdi, Shahanawaj Ahamad, Sawsan A. Saad, Alaa Dafhalla, Alawi Alqushaibi and Rizwan Qureshi
Diagnostics 2024, 14(18), 2038; https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics14182038 - 14 Sep 2024
Viewed by 1065
Abstract
Despite advancements in oncology, predicting recurrence-free survival (RFS) in head and neck (H&N) cancer remains challenging due to the heterogeneity of tumor biology and treatment responses. This study aims to address the research gap in the prognostic efficacy of traditional clinical predictors versus [...] Read more.
Despite advancements in oncology, predicting recurrence-free survival (RFS) in head and neck (H&N) cancer remains challenging due to the heterogeneity of tumor biology and treatment responses. This study aims to address the research gap in the prognostic efficacy of traditional clinical predictors versus advanced radiomics features and to explore the potential of weighted fusion techniques for enhancing RFS prediction. We utilized clinical data, radiomic features from CT and PET scans, and various weighted fusion algorithms to stratify patients into low- and high-risk groups for RFS. The predictive performance of each model was evaluated using Kaplan–Meier survival analysis, and the significance of differences in RFS rates was assessed using confidence interval (CI) tests. The weighted fusion model with a 90% emphasis on PET features significantly outperformed individual modalities, yielding the highest C-index. Additionally, the incorporation of contextual information by varying peritumoral radii did not substantially improve prediction accuracy. While the clinical model and the radiomics model, individually, did not achieve statistical significance in survival differentiation, the combined feature set showed improved performance. The integration of radiomic features with clinical data through weighted fusion algorithms enhances the predictive accuracy of RFS outcomes in head and neck cancer. Our findings suggest that the utilization of multi-modal data helps in developing more reliable predictive models and underscore the potential of PET imaging in refining prognostic assessments. This study propels the discussion forward, indicating a pivotal step toward the adoption of precision medicine in cancer care. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in the Diagnosis and Management of Head and Neck Disease)
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15 pages, 44622 KiB  
Article
CD3 and CD20 Expressions and Infiltrating Patterns in Salivary Gland Tumors
by Rukhsar R. Hussein and Balkees T. Garib
Diagnostics 2024, 14(9), 959; https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics14090959 - 3 May 2024
Viewed by 1542
Abstract
Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) represent a subset of immunological constituents within the tumor microenvironment that can influence cancer growth. We retrospectively evaluate the density and pattern of CD3 and CD20 expression in salivary gland tumors and their relation to clinical pathologic parameters. A total [...] Read more.
Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) represent a subset of immunological constituents within the tumor microenvironment that can influence cancer growth. We retrospectively evaluate the density and pattern of CD3 and CD20 expression in salivary gland tumors and their relation to clinical pathologic parameters. A total of 44 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded blocks of salivary gland tumors were included. These tumors were stained immunohistochemically with CD3 and CD20. The chi-square test was used to relate immune scoring, intensity, and clinical pathological parameters to different salivary tumors. p-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. The intra-tumoral CD3 infiltrating count was high and diffused in (71.4%) of pleomorphic adenomas (PAs) followed by mucoepidermoid carcinomas (MECs) (66.7%). At the same time, adenoid cystic carcinomas (AdCCs) exhibited significantly low infiltration (71.4%) (p = 0.046). The three types of tumors exhibited high tumor-infiltrating counts diffused in peripheral areas with significant differences between malignant tumors (p = 0.047). The intra-tumoral CD20 infiltrating count significantly differed among the tumors (p = 0.002); it was low in all PAs and AdCCs, while MECs showed an equal percentage of expression. However, in the peripheral area, PAs and MECs exhibited significantly (p = 0.007) high infiltrating counts (69.2% and 84.6), and the lowest infiltrating count was predominantly found for AdCCs. The two markers had a significant positive correlation between the mean of CD3 in the intra-tumoral and peripheral regions and CD20 in the peripheral zone across the total samples. In conclusion, the density of CD3 expression is notably higher than CD20 across tumor types. PAs and MECs showed high-density scores, while AdCCs were characterized by low scores. TIL expression was found to be significantly associated with patients’ outcomes in the intra-tumoral area. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in the Diagnosis and Management of Head and Neck Disease)
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