Pre-Cancerous Conditions of the Head and Neck Flashcards
Typical patient with neck cancer
Male 60-70 year old with Alcohol and Tobacco abuse
Poor Hygiene
Malnutrition
Where do head and neck tumors usually progress to?
Regional metastasis to the entire upper aerodigestive tract called Field Cancerization
40 year old patient comes in with dysphagia for more than 3 weeks. What do you do??
Have to do a biopsy!
55 year old come in with fullness of neck and unexplainable horaseness and abnormal breathing. What you do?
Work them up for cancer.
H&P
Needle Biopsy
CT
Patient presents with a premalignant lesion of white plaques on the left side of the tongue. It does not scrap off without bleeding. What could it be? A. Erythroplakia B. Leukoplakia C. Thrush D. Bacterial infection
B. Leukoplakia
only 5% cancerous but all will be within 10 years
With leukoplakia or erythroplakia, how can the severity of premalignant lesion be determined?
Biopsy can note the amount of dysplasia
65 year old presents with a raised, red area that when scraped begins to bleed. How does the likelihood of this lesion becoming cancerous compare to a whitish lesion?
Erythroplakias are 70% likely of becoming cancerous
What is the most common head and neck cancer?
Squamous cell carcinoma. (squamous cells are the cells that line most of the lining of the mucosa)
Cancers of the mouth and throat do not always metastasize, but those that do usually spread first to…
…the lymph nodes of the neck.
Upper lip cancer is usually what kind of cancer?
Basal-cell Carcinoma
Lip cancer 90% rule
90% are of the lower lip
90% are Squamous cell carcinoma
90% have no lymphatic spread
What is the ENT evaluation of a neck mass that has been present for more than 3 weeks?
- Full head and neck examination
- Fine needle aspirate of the neck
- Imaging of neck with CT (sometimes PET) to determine spread
Patient presents with a soreness of the throat and numbness of the face. She also notices drooping of the corner of her mouth. What is the workup for this patient?
Full H&P
Imaging (CT or MRI)
Refer to subspecialty
What is the histology of Human Papiloma Virus caused cancers?
Basaloid Squamous cell Carcinoma p16 positive
What is to account for the relative steady state of Squamous cell carcinoma and the decrease in smoking and tobacco?
Increase in HPV positive SCCA
23 year old patient presents in the office with nodule on his neck. He denies history of smoking or excessive alcohol usage. The mass has been there for the past month. You decide to do a fine needle biopsy and drain fluid from the mass. What kind of cancer are you concerned about?
HPV positive Basaloid squamous cell carcinoma
What aspects of gene dysregulation are common with HPV positive patients?
E6 which decrease p52 and E7 which decreases RB (retinoblastoma) activity