Kristin Higgins

Answer questions and earn CME/CNE Laryngeal cancer remains one of the most common tumors of the respiratory tract. Fortunately, significant advancements have been made over the past decade in the treatment of laryngeal cancer. Although surgery has been the historical mainstay for localized disease and still is an integral part of treatment, nonsurgical options like radiation and systemic therapy have emerged as viable options. In addition, in the metastatic setting, novel agents are showing promise for this patient population. The care for patients with laryngeal cancer continues to evolve and truly requires a multidisciplinary team-based approach. Unique morbidities, such as loss of natural voice, respiration, and airway protection during swallowing, are observed with this disease and require special consideration. CA Cancer J Clin 2017;67:31-50. © 2016 American Cancer Society.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused radiotherapy resource pressures and led to increased risks for lung cancer patients and healthcare staff. An international group of experts in lung cancer radiotherapy established this practice recommendation pertaining to whether and how to adapt radiotherapy for lung cancer in the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: For this ESTRO & ASTRO endorsed project, 32 experts in lung cancer radiotherapy contributed to a modified Delphi consensus process. We assessed potential adaptations of radiotherapy in two pandemic scenarios. The first, an early pandemic scenario of risk mitigation, is characterized by an altered risk-benefit ratio of radiotherapy for lung cancer patients due to their increased susceptibility for severe COVID-19 infection, and minimization of patient travelling and exposure of radiotherapy staff. The second, a later pandemic scenario, is characterized by reduced radiotherapy resources requiring patient triage. Six common lung cancer cases were assessed for both scenarios: peripherally located stage I NSCLC, locally advanced NSCLC, postoperative radiotherapy after resection of pN2 NSCLC, thoracic radiotherapy and prophylactic cranial irradiation for limited stage SCLC and palliative thoracic radiotherapy for stage IV NSCLC. RESULTS: In a risk-mitigation pandemic scenario, efforts should be made not to compromise the prognosis of lung cancer patients by departing from guideline-recommended radiotherapy practice. In that same scenario, postponement or interruption of radiotherapy treatment of COVID-19 positive patients is generally recommended to avoid exposure of cancer patients and staff to an increased risk of COVID-19 infection. In a severe pandemic scenario characterized by reduced resources, if patients must be triaged, important factors for triage include potential for cure, relative benefit of radiation, life expectancy, and performance status. Case-specific consensus recommendations regarding multimodality treatment strategies and fractionation of radiotherapy are provided. CONCLUSION: This joint ESTRO-ASTRO practice recommendation established pragmatic and balanced consensus recommendations in common clinical scenarios of radiotherapy for lung cancer in order to address the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: Paranasal sinus squamous cell carcinomas (PNSSCC) account for 3% of all head and neck malignancies. There has been little information on the trends in incidence and survival, and no randomized trials have been conducted to guide therapy. METHODS: Patients with PNSSCC reported to the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program from 1973 through 2009 were categorized by sex, age, year of diagnosis, primary site, stage, and treatment. The incidence and survival were then compared across different demographic and disease-related categories by calculating rate ratios (RRs) and mortality hazard ratios along with the corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs). RESULTS: In total, 2553 patients with PNSSCC were identified. While incidence of PNSSCC showed a gradual decline, survival remained largely unchanged. The proportion of patients with advanced disease decreased from 14.7% during the period from 1983 to 1992 to 12.4% during 1993-2002 and to 9.5% during 2003-2009. Compared with whites, incidence was higher among African Americans (RR 1.63; 95% CI, 1.39, 1.90) and among all other racial groups (RR, 1.78; 95% CI: 1.53-2.07). After adjusting for age, sex, disease stage, tumor site, and treatment, mortality among African American patients also was increased (hazard ratio, 1.22; 95% CI, 1.04-1.43). Among patients with localized disease, the relation between race and mortality was no longer evident once the results were controlled for tumor classification. CONCLUSIONS: The current findings point to racial disparities in the incidence of PNSSCC and, to a lesser extent, in the outcome of patients with PNSSCC. Although there has been a decline in the proportion of patients presenting with advanced PNSSCC, the overall survival remained stable over time.