Anthony Po Wing Yuen

Lymphomas of the head and neck arise in Waldeyer's ring, the salivary glands, nasal cavity, paranasal sinuses, thyroid gland, and orbit. Though anatomically in close proximity, lymphomas arising in these sites have distinct clinical characteristics. Factors that appear to influence the pattern of disease include concurrent conditions, such as Sjögren's syndrome, and geographic factors, particularly with regard to nasal lymphomas. The treatment and prognosis of patients with head and neck lymphoma depends on the histologic grade of disease and extent of involvement at time of presentation. Most lymphomas are of intermediate-grade histology and early stage at presentation. A thorough understanding of clinical disease patterns and treatment options will allow the optimum management of these patients.

Induction of adaptive immunity to human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) at the mucosal site of transmission is poorly understood but crucial in devising strategies to control and prevent infection. To gain further understanding of HIV-1-specific T-cell mucosal immunity, we established HIV-1-specific CD8(+) cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) cell lines and clones from the blood, cervix, rectum, and semen of 12 HIV-1-infected individuals and compared their specificities, cytolytic function, and T-cell receptor (TCR) clonotypes. Blood and mucosal CD8(+) CTL had common HIV-1 epitope specificities and major histocompatibility complex restriction patterns. Moreover, both systemic and mucosal CTL lysed targets with similar efficiency, primarily through the perforin-dependent pathway in in vitro studies. Sequence analysis of the TCRbeta VDJ region revealed in some cases identical HIV-1-specific CTL clones in different compartments in the same HIV-1-infected individual. These results clearly establish that a subset of blood and mucosal HIV-1-specific CTL can have a common origin and can traffic between anatomically distinct compartments. Thus, these effectors can provide immune surveillance at the mucosa, where rapid responses are needed to contain HIV-1 infection.

The results of surgical salvage of radiation failures of laryngeal carcinoma were reviewed. There were 167 stage T3 and T4 patients. The operative mortality was 7%. The complication rates were 8% wound infection, 13% chest complication, and 25% anastomotic leakage. After the first salvage operation, pharyngeal recurrence developed in 28 (18%) patients. Seven (25%) patients were feasible for second salvage operation, and none of them had further local recurrence. There were 9 (5%) tracheostomal recurrences. Of the 126 N0 patients, 23 (18%) had nodal recurrence, and only 5 of the nodal recurrences were feasible for salvage by radical neck dissection. All 41 node-positive patients underwent radical neck dissection, and 9 (23%) had nodal recurrence. Of the 126 node-negative patients, 19 (15%) had distant metastasis. Of the 41 node-positive patients, 18 (44%) had distant metastasis. The node-positive patients had a significantly high distant failure rate despite locoregional control of tumor. The adjusted 5-year survival rate of T3-4N0M0 was 45%, and that of T3-4N + M0 was 22%.