MyMedR

Displaying all 12 publications

Abstract:

Sort:

Fulltext Consensus recommendations for management of head and neck cancer in Asian countries: a review of international guidelines

D'cruz A, Lin T, Anand AK, Atmakusuma D, Calaguas MJ, Chitapanarux I, et al.

Oral Oncol, 2013 Sep;49(9):872-877.
PMID: 23830839 DOI: 10.1016/j.oraloncology.2013.05.010

Head and neck cancer (HNC) is a disease of the upper aerodigestive tract and is one of the most frequently diagnosed cancers worldwide. A high rate of cancers involving the head and neck are reported across the Asian region, with notable variations between countries. Disease prognosis is largely dependent on tumor stage and site. Patients with early stage disease have a 60-95% chance of cure with local therapy. Early diagnosis and appropriate treatment are important to increase the likelihood of cure and survival. However, the majority of patients present with locally advanced disease and require multimodality treatment. This necessitates, a multidisciplinary approach which is essential to make appropriate treatment decisions, particularly with regards to tolerability, costs, available infrastructure and quality of life issues. Unfortunately, majority of the studies that dictate current practice have been developed in the west where diseases biology, patient population and available infrastructure are very different from those in the Asian continent. With this in mind an expert panel of Head and Neck Oncologists was convened in May 2012 to review the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) and the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) clinical practice guidelines and develop practical recommendations on the applicability of these guidelines on the management of head and neck cancer for Asian patients. The objective of this review and consensus meeting was to suggest revisions, to account for potential differences in demographics and resources, to the NCCN and ESMO guidelines, to better reflect current clinical management of head and neck cancer within the Asian region for health care providers. These recommendations, which reflect best clinical practice within Asia, are expected to benefit practitioners when making decisions regarding optimal treatment strategies for their patients.

Matched MeSH terms: Head and Neck Neoplasms/therapy*
Fulltext Head and neck cancer: possible causes for delay in diagnosis and treatment

Lee SC, Tang IP, Avatar SP, Ahmad N, Selva KS, Tay KK, et al.

Med J Malaysia, 2011 Jun;66(2):101-4.
PMID: 22106686 MyJurnal

To explore the possible causes for delay in diagnosis and treatment of head and neck cancer at Sarawak General Hospital (SGH).

Matched MeSH terms: Head and Neck Neoplasms/therapy*
Outcome of patients with head and neck cancers: 10-year experience of a otorhinolaryngology--head and neck unit in a tertiary hospital of a developing country

Shashinder S, Choo PK, Gopala KG

Eur J Cancer Care (Engl), 2008 Jan;17(1):93-7.
PMID: 18181897 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2354.2007.00814.x

Being a rapidly developing country, a study was needed to see how we faired in treating head and neck cancer patients compared with international standards. Although being a retrospective study, this research shows that there is still a lot to be done in our developing nation in educating the general public about head and neck cancers as most of them presented in the later stages to us. There also needs to be a proper review about the treatment modality offered to patient as our survival results are far behind in certain categories of cancers compared with the developed nations.

Matched MeSH terms: Head and Neck Neoplasms/therapy
Cervical metastasis of testicular cancer: Case Report and Review of Literature

Kumarasamy G, Balasubramanian A, Abdullah B

Gulf J Oncolog, 2018 May;1(27):73-77.
PMID: 30145556

Testicular cancer is an uncommon malignancy of the male reproductive organ, accounting for 1% of all cancers in men. Distant cervical metastasis from testicular cancer has been reported in 5% of patients. We present 2 cases of non-seminomatous testicular cancers that were diagnosed retrospectively in patients who presented with pure cervical lymph nodes. A comprehensive approach bearing in mind the possible differentials, pathogenesis and treatment options are discussed.

Matched MeSH terms: Head and Neck Neoplasms/therapy
Fulltext Head and neck follicular dendritic cell sarcoma: disease associations and treatment review

Amin Z, Suhaimi Y, Ahmad R

Med J Malaysia, 2010 Mar;65(1):77-9.
PMID: 21265258 MyJurnal

Currently, of less than 50 cases of head and neck follicular dendritic cell (FDC) sarcoma reported in the literature, 5 have been found to occur in the background of Castleman disease. We report another case of head and neck FDC sarcoma with emphasise on its associated lesions and review the outcome of treatment from the existing cases in the literature.

Matched MeSH terms: Head and Neck Neoplasms/therapy
Malignant cervical teratoma in an adult presenting with impending airway obstruction

Lukman MR, Jasmi AY, Sarinah B, Nurismah MI, Aishah MA

Asian J Surg, 2005 Jul;28(3):227-9.
PMID: 16024322

Extragonadal teratomas and germ cell tumours are uncommon. Most teratomas of the head and neck present in the paediatric age group. Occurrence of such tumours in an adult is extremely rare and, to date, less than 40 cases have been reported in the literature. We report a case of a young man presenting with impending airway obstruction secondary to a malignant teratoma of the neck.

Matched MeSH terms: Head and Neck Neoplasms/therapy
Fulltext Three squamous cell carcinomas of different sites in three years: A mere coincidence?

Azman M, Mohd Yunus MR

Indian J Cancer, 2015 Apr-Jun;52(2):201-2.
PMID: 26853404 DOI: 10.4103/0019-509X.175817
Matched MeSH terms: Head and Neck Neoplasms/therapy
Effects of Tualang Honey on Cancer Related Fatigue: A Multicenter Open-label Trial of H&N Cancer Patients

Ramasamy V, Binti Mat Lazim N, Abdullah B, Singh A

Gulf J Oncolog, 2019 May;1(30):43-51.
PMID: 31242981

INTRODUCTION: Cancer related fatigue (CRF) is a problem experienced by head and neck cancer patients, especially those who undergo chemoradiation therapy. CRF may persist for years post chemoradiation therapy and significantly impair their quality of life (QOL). Tualang honey is rich in amino acids, vitamins, minerals and enzymes. It is proven to have anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and anti-tumour properties. As CRF is related to inflammatory mediators, the effects of Tualang Honey may improve CRF. The aim of this study is to determine if Tualang honey has a role in improving CRF and quality of life among head and neck cancer patients post chemoradiation.
METHODOLOGY: In this open labelled randomized clinical trial, 40 participants aged between 18 and 65 with head and neck cancer who completed chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy in Hospital USM, Kelantan Malaysia or Hospital Taiping were recruited and randomized into two groups: Tualang honey (experimental) group or Vitamin C (control) group. They were prescribed with either daily oral Tualang honey 20mg or vitamin C tablet 100 mg for 8 weeks. Level of fatigue and quality of life were measured using FACIT-Fatigue and FACT H&N questionnaires at baseline, 4 weeks and 8 weeks. The white cell count and C-reactive protein level were also measured at baseline, 4 weeks and 8 weeks.
RESULTS: After four and eight weeks of treatment with Tualang honey or Vitamin C, the fatigue level for experimental group was better than in the control group, and the differences were statistically significant (p<0.05). Statistically significant improvements were seen on quality of life (p<0.05) for the experimental group at week 8, however, no significant improvements were seen in white cell count and C-reactive protein level between control and experimental group.
CONCLUSION: Our research provided support for the use of Tualang honey to improve CRF and QOL in head and neck cancer patients post chemotherapy or radiotherapy.

Matched MeSH terms: Head and Neck Neoplasms/therapy*
The use of the FACT-H&N (v4) in clinical settings within a developing country: a mixed method study

Bilal S, Doss JG, Rogers SN

J Craniomaxillofac Surg, 2014 Dec;42(8):1590-7.
PMID: 25224886 DOI: 10.1016/j.jcms.2014.04.015

In the last decade there has been an increasing awareness about 'quality of life' (QOL) of cancer survivors in developing countries. The study aimed to cross-culturally adapt and validate the FACT-H&N (v4) in Urdu language for Pakistani head and neck cancer patients. In this study the 'same language adaptation method' was used. Cognitive debriefing through in-depth interviews of 25 patients to assess semantic, operational and conceptual equivalence was done. The validation phase included 50 patients to evaluate the psychometric properties. The translated FACT-H&N was easily comprehended (100%). Cronbach's alpha for FACT-G subscales ranged from 0.726 - 0.969. The head and neck subscale and Pakistani questions subscale showed low internal consistency (0.426 and 0.541 respectively). Instrument demonstrated known-group validity in differentiating patients of different clinical stages, treatment status and tumor sites (p < 0.05). Most FACT summary scales correlated strongly with each other (r > 0.75) and showed convergent validity (r > 0.90), with little discriminant validity. Factor analysis revealed 6 factors explaining 85.1% of the total variance with very good (>0.8) Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin and highly significant Bartlett's Test of Sphericity (p < 0.001). The cross-culturally adapted FACT-H&N into Urdu language showed adequate reliability and validity to be incorporated in Pakistani clinical settings for head and neck cancer patients.

Matched MeSH terms: Head and Neck Neoplasms/therapy
Treatment outcome for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma in a developing country: University Malaya Medical Centre, Malaysia from 2003-2010

Wong YF, Yusof MM, Wan Ishak WZ, Alip A, Phua VC

Asian Pac J Cancer Prev, 2015;16(7):2903-8.
PMID: 25854381

BACKGROUND: Head and neck cancer (HNC) is the eighth most common cancer as estimated from worldwide data. The incidence of HNC in Peninsular Malaysia was reported as 8.5 per 100,000 population. This study was aimed to determine the treatment outcomes for HNC patients treated in the Oncology Unit of University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC).
MATERIALS AND METHODS: All newly diagnosed patients with squamous cell carcinoma of head and neck (HNSCC) referred for treatment to the Oncology Unit at UMMC from 2003-2010 were retrospectively analyzed. Treatment outcomes were 5-year overall survival (OS), cause specific survival (CSS), loco-regional control (LRC) and radiotherapy (RT) related side effects. Kaplan-Meier and log rank analyses were used to determine survival outcomes, stratified according to American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) stage.
RESULTS: A total of 130 cases were analysed. Most cases (81.5%) were at late stage (AJCC III-IVB) at presentation. The 5-year OS for the whole study population was 34.4% with a median follow up of 24 months. The 5-year OS according to AJCC stage was 100%, 48.2%, 41.4% and 22.0% for stage I, II, III and IVA-B, respectively. The 5-year overall CSS and LCR were 45.4% and 55.4%, respectively. Late effects of RT were documented in 41.4% of patients. The most common late effect was xerostomia.
CONCLUSIONS: The treatment outcome of HNSCC at our centre is lagging behind those of developed nations. Efforts to increase the number of patients presenting in earlier stages, increase in the use of combined modality treatment, especially concurrent chemoradiotherapy and implementation of intensity modulated radiotherapy, may lead to better outcomes for our HNC patients.

Matched MeSH terms: Head and Neck Neoplasms/therapy*
Fulltext In vitro evaluation of dual-antigenic PV1 peptide vaccine in head and neck cancer patients

Chai SJ, Fong SCY, Gan CP, Pua KC, Lim PVH, Lau SH, et al.

Hum Vaccin Immunother, 2019;15(1):167-178.
PMID: 30193086 DOI: 10.1080/21645515.2018.1520584

Peptide vaccines derived from tumour-associated antigens have been used as an immunotherapeutic approach to induce specific cytotoxic immune response against tumour. We previously identified that MAGED4B and FJX1 proteins are overexpressed in HNSCC patients; and further demonstrated that two HLA-A2-restricted 9-11 amino acid peptides derived from these proteins were able to induce anti-tumour immune responses in vitro independently using PBMCs isolated from these patients. In this study, we evaluated the immunogenicity and efficacy of a dual-antigenic peptide vaccine (PV1), comprised of MAGED4B and FJX1 peptides in HNSCC patients. We first demonstrated that 94.8% of HNSCC patients expressed MAGED4B and/or FJX1 by immunohistochemistry, suggesting that PV1 could benefit the majority of HNSCC patients. The presence of pre-existing MAGED4B and FJX1-specific T-cells was detected using a HLA-A2 dimer assay and efficacy of PV1 to induce T-cell to secrete cytotoxic cytokine was evaluated using ELISPOT assay. Pre-existing PV1-specific T-cells were detected in all patients. Notably, we demonstrated that patients' T-cells were able to secrete cytotoxic cytokines upon exposure to target cells expressing the respective antigen post PV1 stimulation. Furthermore, patients with high expression of MAGED4B and FJX1 in their tumours were more responsive to PV1 stimulation, demonstrating the specificity of the PV1 peptide vaccine. Additionally, we also demonstrated the expression of MAGED4B and FJX1 in breast, lung, colon, prostate and rectal cancer suggesting the potential use of PV1 in these cancers. In summary, PV1 could be a good vaccine candidate for the treatment of HNSCC patients and other cancers expressing these antigens.

Matched MeSH terms: Head and Neck Neoplasms/therapy*
Metastatic Pleomorphic Adenoma in the infratemporal fossa and neck following total parotidectomy after 30 years

Wong DKC, Muhamad NS, Sobri SS, Amin WAM, Yusof Z

Med J Malaysia, 2019 04;74(2):85-86.
PMID: 31079134

Metastasising pleomorphic adenoma is rare and may occur years after surgical excision of a pleomorphic adenoma (PA). We present a 61-year-old woman with a right infratemporal PA with metastases to the cervical lymph nodes after 30 years following a total parotidectomy. She was treated successfully with a resection of the tumour with combined neck and mandibulotomy approach along with postoperative radiotherapy given subsequently.

Matched MeSH terms: Head and Neck Neoplasms/therapy