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Introduction/Objective. New World Health Organization Classification of Head and Neck Tumors from 2017 has introduced significant changes, mainly considering tumors in the oropharyngeal region. New entities of HPV-positive and -negative squamous cell carcinomas have been acknowledged, not only based on the presence of an active viral infection and different tumor markers expression, but also because of their different histopathology, staging assessment, and prognosis. A retrospective study has been conducted, in order to determine p16 positivity in squamous cell carcinomas in oropharynx and in the oral cavity, and to see whether they differ in sex and age distribution. Methods. The presence of viral infection was verified based on p16 immunochemistry staining, p16 being the surrogate marker for HPV infection. A total of 177 cases of squamous cell carcinomas in the oropharynx and the oral cavity, found in the archives of the Histopathology Laboratory of the Clinic for Otorhinolaryngology and Maxillofacial Surgery, Clinical Centre of Serbia, have been revised. Results. Out of 177 cases, 50 (28.2%) were p16-positive. Compared with carcinomas in the oral cavity, p16 carcinomas were significantly more common in the oropharynx (34.3% in the oropharynx, compared to 10.3% in the oral cavity). Carcinomas in both regions were mostly associated with male sex (88.1% of all cases were in males), but p16 positivity was more common in females (11 out of 21 cases, 52.4%). The most common location of p16-positive carcinomas were palatine tonsils (41.03% of tonsillar carcinomas were p16-positive). Conclusion. P16-positive squamous cell carcinomas were the most numerous in the oropharynx, i.e. palatine tonsils, and were more common in females.

Introduction/Objective. Total laryngectomy is a very mutilating operation and it leads to drastic changes in life quality. The purpose of this study was to examine factors of importance to the laryngectomized patients’ quality of life and to evaluate characteristics of esophageal voice and speech. Methods. The study was conducted at the Clinic of Otorhinolaryngology and Maxillofacial Surgery, at the Clinical Center of Serbia (Belgrade, Serbia), during the period between March 2012–2015. The study included 223 patients diagnosed with laryngeal cancer, who underwent total laryngectomy. The total of 168 laryngectomized patients were provided with phoniatric rehabilitation. Results. The quality of life was significantly better for those laryngectomized patients who did undergo phoniatric rehabilitation. By means of intensive phoniatric rehabilitation the esophageal voice and speech was established in 86.3% of laryngectomized patients registered by objective acoustic analysis. Rehabilitated laryngectomy patients had a significantly lower presence of voice handicap sense (VHI: 19.57 Ѓ} 7.35) and expressed significantly lower symptoms of depression and anxiety (PHQ-9: 3.8 Ѓ} 4.2; GAD-7: 3.4 Ѓ} 4.2). Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was above 0.7 EORTC QLQ-C30 on three levels of Likert scales: the scale of physical and emotional functioning and fatigue; as well as EORTC QLQ-H&N43 questionnaire: the symptoms of head and neck pain, speech, swallowing and eating problems and body image. Conclusion. Significantly improving the quality of life of laryngectomized patients was achieved by a multidisciplinary rehabilitation. Phoniatric rehabilitation carried out in a planned and systematic way is the most efficient rehabilitation of laryngectomized patients.