Rare adult masseteric rhabdomyosarcoma and a review of the literature.

BACKGROUND: Rhabdomyosarcomas (RMSs) are a group of soft-tissue malignant tumors which derive from primitive skeletal muscle tissue that mainly affect children and adolescents. RMSs are very rare in adults, where they are usually located in the extremities. CASE PRESENTATION: A previously healthy 32-year-old male presented at our ENT (ear, nose and throat) outpatient clinic after experiencing a parotid region swelling for 2 months. The patient was treated surgically by excising the mass and by modified radical ipsilateral neck dissection. Histological and immunohistochemical examination indicated masseteric alveolar RMS with lymphatic metastasis. The patient received radiochemotherapy, and he is still alive with no evidence of disease spread 1 year after diagnosis. CONCLUSION: This is the first case of a masseter alveolar RMS to be reported in the literature in a patient older than 25 years; it highlights the broad spectrum of neoplasms that cause parotid region swellings and the importance of considering rare tumors during differential diagnosis.

Multiple head and neck tumours and their genetic relationship.

Second primary tumours represent one of the major causes of failure in the treatment of head and neck cancer. Advances in early diagnosis and treatment have improved the patient's disease-specific survival. However, the increase in the occurrence of second primary tumours negatively influences the patient's chance of long-term survival. To understand the molecular events underlying the appearance of head and neck multiple tumours, the clinical history has been evaluated in 2 patients both of whom developed 3 primary tumours of the head and neck. To establish the genetic relationship between the different head and neck cancers which had developed in these 2 patients, loss of heterozygosity was investigated using microsatellite markers located on chromosomes 3p, 9p, 11q, 13q, and 17p. These markers were selected as they frequently demonstrate loss of heterozygosity in head and neck cancer. The following markers were used: D3S1234, D3S1300, D9S170, D11S490, and D17S158. Primer sequences were obtained from the genome database for all of these markers. The third tumour that developed in the first patient, 13 years after the primary, showed loss of heterozygosity on chromosome 17p (in the locus for the gene TP53), which was not present in the previous tumours. All tumours in the second patient showed heterozygosity of chromosome 11 at the locus D11S490. These 2 cases show that multiple tumours can be derived from a genetic alteration of a subclone from previous tumours or from an independent preneoplastic cell clone present in the head and neck mucosa.

Rhinomanometric and olfactometric variations throughout the menstrual cycle.

A prospective study was performed to evaluate the rhinomanometric values and the changes in the olfactory threshold that occur in women throughout the menstrual cycle. The subjects were 60 healthy volunteer premenopausal women 18 to 40 years of age. We performed rhinomanometric and olfactometric measurements during the follicular, periovular, and luteal phases of the menstrual cycle. Rhinomanometry showed a higher (not statistically significant) airflow during the periovular phase than during the follicular and luteal phases. Olfactometry showed a higher sensitivity during the follicular phase (p < .05) and the periovular phase (p < .001) than during the luteal phase. We conclude that airflow and transnasal pressure during spontaneous respiration, as well as the olfactory threshold to odors, seem to depend on the variations of the ovarian steroids that occur during the menstrual cycle.