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OBJECTIVE The space comprised between tumor and neck lymph nodes (T-N tract) is one of the main routes of tumor spread in oral cavity tumors. Aim of the study was to investigate the impact of T-N tract involvement on the postoperative radiotherapy (PORT) outcomes. MATERIALS AND METHODS Patients (pts) treated between 2000 and 2016 with indication to PORT were retrospectively retrieved. Inclusion criteria were: (a) locally advanced tumors of the oral cavity, (b) who received with indication to PORT (c) with a minimum follow-up of six months. RESULTS One hundred and fifty-seven pts met the inclusion criteria (136 pts treated with PORT and 21 pts not treated with PORT). In the PORT cohort, the T-N tract involvement had no impact on both OS (p = .09) and LRFS (p = .2). Among the non-PORT cohort, both OS (p = .007) and LRFS (p = .017) were worse for pts with positive T-N tract compared to those with negative T-N tract. PORT improved both OS (p = .008) and LRFS (p = .003) in pts with positive T-N tract but not in those with negative T-N tract (p = .36 and p = .37, respectively). CONCLUSIONS Our results suggest that involvement of T-N tract should be considered as prognostic factors informing the indication to PORT.

Background The purpose of this study was to identify the factors influencing oncologic outcomes for patients with early-intermediate glottic cancer treated by transoral laser microsurgery (TLM). Methods This was a retrospective mono-institutional study. A total of 590 patients with cTis-cT3 glottic cancer underwent TLM with curative intent. Results TLM alone was performed in 538 patients (91.2%) and TLM followed by adjuvant radiotherapy (RT) was done in 52 (8.8%). Five-year recurrence-free survival (RFS) and 10-year overall survival (OS) were 85.3% and 74.7%, respectively. The larynx-preservation ratio was 95.9%. In particular, from our data, we found that occult metastases were rare (1.2%); preventive tracheotomy was not necessary; the local recurrence rate of Tis was similar to that in the T2 and T3 group; and no major or lethal complications were observed. Conclusion Age (>60 vs ≤60), type of cordectomy (≥IV vs ≤III), status of margins, fixed arytenoid, and pathologic T classification, were the variables associated with RFS, OS, and organ-preservation rate. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Head Neck 39: 71–81, 2017

High-dose chemotherapy (HDCT) has a consolidated role in the treatment of patients with refractory or relapsed Hodgkin lymphoma (HL). We report clinical results of 97 HL patients who underwent HDCT for refractory (62 patients) or relapsed (35 patients) diseases in Istituto Europeo di Oncologia, from 1995 to 2009. Treatment included high-dose carmustine, etoposide, cytarabine and melphalan in 84 patients and high-dose idarubicin and melphalan in 13 patients with subsequent peripheral hemopoietic stem cells transplant. Outcomes were evaluated in terms of progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). In order to identify prognostic factors for outcome, a multivariate analysis for age, sex, disease status (refractory/relapsed), disease stage, B symptoms, presence of extranodal involvement, bulky disease, elevated lactate dehydrogenase, number of previous chemotherapy lines, remission status before transplant, 18F-fluoro-deoxy-d-glucose positron emission tomography (18FDG-PET) status before and after transplant was done. A clinical response was achieved in 91% of patients, with complete remissions in 76/97 patients. With a median follow-up of 45 months (range 1–164 months), 5-year PFS and OS were 64% and 71%, respectively. Remission status after induction therapy, 18F-fluoro-deoxy-d-glucose positron emission tomography status before and after transplant were the most important prognostic factors for PFS and OS in univariate or multivariate analyses. HDCT is able to induce a high remission rate and a prolonged PFS in more than 50% of the patients with refractory and relapsed HL. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.