Techniques, Prognosis, and Treatment of Tongue Squamous Cell Carcinoma
1Henan Cancer Hospital, Zhengzhou, China
2New York University, New York, USA
Techniques, Prognosis, and Treatment of Tongue Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Description
Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (HNSCC) is a common malignancy which has high rates of mortality and morbidity. HNSCC is the sixth leading cancer worldwide which accounts for over 600,000 new cancer cases and 350,000 deaths per year. Tongue Squamous Cell Carcinoma (SCC) is one of the most common cancer types, with a survival rate of less than 5 years in half of newly diagnosed patients. Nearly half of patients who are at the stage of diagnosis already have regional lymph node metastasis. In addition to surgery, treatment of HNSCC involves the procedures of chemotherapy and radiation.
Neck lymph node metastasis is one of the most important prognostic factors in Tongue SCC, but unfortunately these positive lymph nodes are usually occult or subclinical at the initial diagnosis in early stage Tongue SCC. The most common treatment for cT1-2N0 Tongue SCC is between Elective Neck Dissection (END) and the watchful waiting policy due to the high variation of occult metastasis rate.
Investigators who favor the END treatment state it allows a more accurate diagnosis of the stage of the disease and provides information on whether therapy is required. However, the main arguments of routine END commented by the traditional watchful waiting policy are based on the associated surgical complications which include shoulder dysfunction. As there is no current accurate diagnostic procedure for assessing the neck lymph node status preoperatively, the elective management of the neck in cT1-2N0 Tongue SCC has been the subject of much debate during the past 3 decades and continues to be controversial. Therefore, there is a need for studying possible predictors for occult metastasis in the early stage of Tongue SCC.
For this special issue, we welcome manuscripts covering treatment and prognosis regarding Tongue SCC specifically papers which focus on occult lymph node metastasis.
Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:
- Occult metastasis in Tongue SCC
- Role of Elective Neck Dissection in Tongue SCC
- Prognosis analysis in Tongue SCC
- New therapies including immunotherapy regarding advanced Tongue SCC
- Systematic review of latest progress in Tongue SCC