Sentinel lymph node biopsy a new approach in the management of head and neck cancers

Cervical lymph node metastasis affects the prognosis and overall survival rate of and therapeutic planning for patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinomas [HNSCCs]. However, advanced diagnostic modalities still lack accuracy in detecting occult neck metastasis. A sentinel lymph node biopsy is a minimally invasive auxiliary method for assessing the presence of occult metastatic disease in a patient with a clinically negative neck. This technique increases the specificity of neck dissection and thus reduces morbidity among oral cancer patients. The removal of sentinel nodes and dissection of the levels between the primary tumour and the sentinel node or the irradiation of target nodal basins is favoured as a selective treatment approach; this technique has the potential to become the new standard of care for patients with HNSCCs. This article presents an update on clinical applications and novel developments in this field

Verrucous hyperplasia: Case report and differential diagnosis

Verrucous hyperplasia [VH] is a rare exophytic oral mucosal lesion which can transform into verrucous carcinoma [VC], its malignant but clinically similar counterpart. These entities can be distinguished by the lack of invasive growth in VH cases; as such, it is essential to include a margin with adequate depth when performing a biopsy of the epithelium of the lesion. We report an 80-year-old male patient who presented to the Bapuji Dental College and Hospital, Davangere, Karanataka, India, in 2011 with a warty whitish-pink growth on the inside of his cheek. The patient was treated with wide surgical excision of the lesion and a diagnosis of VH was made based on histopathological features. There was no evidence of recurrence at a five-year follow-up. This report highlights the histological variations, pathogenesis and differential diagnosis of VH

Deciphering the role of the barr body in malignancy: an insight into head and neck cancer

X chromosome inactivation is the epitome of epigenetic regulation and long non-coding ribonucleic acid function. The differentiation status of cells has been ascribed to X chromosome activity, with two active X chromosomes generally only observed in undifferentiated or poorly differentiated cells. Recently, several studies have indicated that the reactivation of an inactive X chromosome or X chromosome multiplication correlates with the development of malignancy; however, this concept is still controversial. This review sought to shed light on the role of the X chromosome in cancer development. In particular, there is a need for further exploration of the expression patterns of X-linked genes in cancer cells, especially those in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma [HNSCC], in order to identify different prognostic subpopulations with distinct clinical implications. This article proposes a functional relationship between the loss of the Barr body and the disproportional expression of X-linked genes in HNSCC development