Survival analysis of 256 patients with oral cancer / 中国肿瘤临床

Objective:To analyze survival in patients with advanced oral cancer from prospective clinical trials. Methods:From 2008 to 2010, 256 patients with oral cancer at clinical stage III/IVA were randomly categorized into two groups. Patients in the experi-mental group received neo-adjuvant chemotherapy, surgery, and post-operative radiation, and patients in the control group underwent surgery and post-operative radiation. All patients were routinely followed-up after treatments. Survival was analyzed using Kaplan–Meier method and log-rank test, and differences were considered statistically significant at P value lower than 0.05. Results: Each group was composed of 128 patients. With the median follow-up period of 60 months, the 5-year overall survival rate was 61.7%and the disease-free survival rate was 53.9%. The overall survival rate (P=0.350) and the disease-free survival rate (P=0.160) were not sig-nificantly different between the experimental and control groups. Patients with positive pathological response to neo-adjuvant chemo-therapy exhibited significantly improved overall survival (P＜0.05). Conclusion:Radical surgery should be emphasized to improve the prognosis of oral cancer. Functional reconstruction could also improve the quality of life and survival of patients. Despite that neo-adju-vant chemotherapy could not improve the survival of patients with advanced oral cancer in entirety, it could benefit patients exhibiting positive treatment responses.

Research Progress of Plant Polyphenols for Improving Cognitive Function / 世界科学技术-中医药现代化

Plant polyphenols are a group of naturally occurring phytochemicals which are present in high amounts in plants and are the most abundant dietary antioxidants. Epidemiological and animal model researches have indicated that polyphenols can improve cognitive function. The mechanism for polyphenols to improve cognitive function has been extensively studied and may be owing to antioxidant, anti-imflammatory, neuroprotective, cerebrovascular blood flow increasing activities, and etc. Nowadays, the plant polyphenols and its benefits to cognitive function have become a hot research topic. In this article, we reviewed the latest progress from the structure and origin of phenolic compound, as well as its effect and action mechanism on cognitive function.

Thoracoacromial artery perforator flap: anatomical basis and clinical applications.

BACKGROUND: Concerns and criticism have been reported on the feasibility and vascular reliability of the thoracoacromial artery perforator flap because of the inconsistent size of the pectoral branch of the thoracoacromial artery and its cutaneous perforators. The authors have investigated its vascular basis through a cadaver dissection and described their clinical experience in the surgical strategy, range of application, and indications for the thoracoacromial artery perforator flap. METHODS: Twelve fresh human cadavers were dissected to define the anatomy of the branches of the thoracoacromial artery and their perforators and the anatomical landmarks for clinical application. Single pectoral branch perforators were injected to measure the extension of the thoracoacromial artery perforator vascular territory. RESULTS: A constant thoracoacromial artery perforator was present in the septum between the clavicular and sternocostal heads of the pectoralis major muscle in 21 of 24 hemichests. The mean caliber of the perforator was 0.7 mm and the mean length of the vascular pedicle was 7.1 cm. The territory of the thoracoacromial artery perforator flap extended up to the fourth intercostal space inferiorly. Between 2006 and 2011, the thoracoacromial artery perforator flap was used to reconstruct head and neck defects in seven patients. All patients healed uneventfully. CONCLUSIONS: The authors' studies provide evidence of the vascular supply and the clinical application of the thoracoacromial artery perforator flap. The recruitment of the chest skin through a thoracoacromial artery perforator flap resulted in an adequate color match, texture, and pliability for local adjacent defect restoration and for head and neck reconstruction. CLINICAL QUESTION/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic, IV.

Dental implant distractor combined with free fibular flap: a new design for simultaneous functional mandibular reconstruction.

PURPOSE: The purpose of the present study was to present a new method that combines the use of the fibular flap and a custom-made vertical distractor/dental implant device into 1 surgical procedure for simultaneous functional mandibular reconstruction. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The present retrospective case series included 10 patients who were treated using the fibular flap and dental implant distractor (DID) in a single-stage procedure. These 10 patients were treated within a 3-year period (from 2005 to 2007). RESULTS: Of the 10 patients included in the study, 5 were males and 5 were females. The mean age of the sample was 33.8 years (range 17 to 48). The cumulative survival rate of the fibular flaps was 100%. The mean vertical bone height attained with the DID device was 11.4 mm. The mean period from the first operation to the start of dental implant loading was 6.3 months. The cumulative survival rate of the dental implants was 93.75%. CONCLUSIONS: The use of the DID in the fibular flap for mandibular reconstruction is advantageous because it combines vertical distraction osteogenesis of the fibular flap and dental implantation into a single procedure. Implants placed in the reconstructed areas were found to integrate normally, with survival rates comparable to those with 2-stage operations. As such, this novel DID technique can be used for single-stage reconstruction and rehabilitation of segmental mandibular defects in selected patients.

Study on neck management for tongue squamous cell carcinoma of cN0 stage / 华西口腔医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>This retrospective study is to analyze the outcomes of cN0 stage tongue squamous cell carcinoma and to discuss a reasonable neck management for these cases.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Totally 132 cases of cN0 stage tongue squamous cell carcinomas were included. Seventy-one cases were performed neck dissection(group ND), 61 cases were under wait-and-see (group WS). The clinical, pathological and follow up data of two groups were analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The cumulative three-year-survival between group ND and group WS were 87.3% and 83.4% respectively. In group ND, the survival of T1 and T2 cases were 89.3% and 83.3% respectively, while 89.6% and 58.3% in WS. For T2b cases which the size was larger than 3.0 cm, the survival of group WS was greatly lower than that of group ND. Both in ND and WS groups. The pathologically poor differentiation cases got poor survival than middle and well cases.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The wait-and-see policy is recommanded for T1 stage cN0 tongue squamous cell carcinoma. For T2 cases that the tumor size is smaller than 3.0 cm, the wait-and-see is also reasonable, while the neck dissection should be considered in cases of poor differentiation. For large T2 cases, the selective neck dissection should be performed.</p>

Embolization of the AVM of jaws by direct percutaneous puncture combined with endovascular route / 中华口腔医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To report our experience to embolize the AVM of jaws by direct puncture in conjunction with endovascular treatment.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>5 cases of AVM of mandible and 2 cases of AVM of maxilla comprised this study group. The patients were embolized with coils with wool strands and PVA. The coils were placed directly into the center of the intraosseous lesion. The procedure was under the guidance of DSA machine (PHILIPS V3000).</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The acute arterial bleeding of 4 patients was controllable. The chronic oozing bleeding in the other 3 cases disappeared in the 3 - 24 months follow-up and new bone formation was found in the follow-up radiography.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The embolization of the AVM of jaws by direct puncture in conjunction with endovascular therapy is effective and safe, however the longer follow-up is expected.</p>