Radioterapia y el carcinoma verrucoso de laringe: [revisión] / Radiotherapy and verrucous carcinoma of the larynx: [revision]

El carcinoma más común en las vías aéreo-digestivas superiores (VADS) es el carcinoma de células escamosas (>90%). Es difícil precisar la prevalencia de las denominadas variantes del carcinoma de células escamosas (CCE). El diagnóstico diferencial es necesario dadas sus diferencias no sólo en el manejo sino también en su pronóstico. El carcinoma verrucoso es una de las variantes del carcinoma de células escamosas bien diferenciado no metastizante, caracterizado por ser una neoplasia de un crecimiento lento, de patrón exofítico verrucoso. El rol de la radioterapia (RDT) en el tratamiento del carcinoma verrucoso es motivo de discusión por su posible transformación en carcinoma anaplásico. A través de la siguiente revisión bibliográfica se busca aclarar dicha controversia.

Squamous cell carcinoma is the most common upper aerodigestive tract (UAT) carcinoma (>90%). Precising the prevalence of the so-called varieties of squamous cell carcinoma has proved difficult. Differential diagnosis is necessary, on account of the differences between varieties both in management and prognosis. One of such varieties, verrucous carcinoma of the larynx, is a well-defined, no-metastatic tumor, characterized as a slow-growth neoplasm, of verrucous exophyitic pattern. Since laryngeal verrucous cancer may transform into anaplastic carcinoma, the role of radiotherapy in its treatment has been discussed. The aim of the present literature review was to shed light on this controversy.

Human papillomavirus and penile cancers in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: HPV typing and clinical features

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA in penile cancers in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We studied, prospectively, 80 consecutive cases of patients with penile cancers who underwent surgical treatment at three different Hospitals in Rio de Janeiro between March 1995 and June 2000. Of these patients, 72 were diagnosed with invasive squamous cell carcinoma and 8 patients with verrucous carcinoma. The following parameters were observed: presence or absence of HPV DNA viral type, histological subtypes, clinical stage and overall survival. RESULTS: HPV DNA was detected in 75 percent of patients with invasive carcinomas and in 50 percent of patients with verrucous carcinomas. High risk HPVs were detected in 15 of 54 (27.8 percent) patients with HPV positive invasive tumors and in 1 of 4 (25 percent) patients with HPV positive verrucous tumors. HPV 16 was the most frequent type observed. No correlation was observed between HPV status and histological subtype (p = 0.51) as well as HPV status and stage stratification (p = 0.88). HPV status was also not significantly associated with the presence of regional metastases (p = 0.89). The overall survival was related to the presence of lymph node metastases (p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: HPV infection may have contributed to malignant transformation in a large proportion of our penile cancer cases but only inguinal metastasis was a prognostic factor for survival in these patients with penile carcinoma.