Tehran University Medical Journal

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In this paper, factors affecting the result of prophylactic lymph node dissection in 125 patients with skin melanoma during the period between 1987-1992 in the cancer institute were evaluated and prognostic parameters ascertained. The result showed prevalence of head and neck melanoma in men were two times more than in women with a preponderance of regional and lymphatic recurrence. Majority of patients presented with advanced clark levels (76.8 Pct). Clinical and histologic evaluation of the regional lymph nodes failed to show any meaningful relation.

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Regarding the prevalence of cancer in tongue and the management procedure of cases who have recurrence in cervical lymph nodes after partial glossectomy and in order to determine appropriate management of neck in early oral tongue cancer it was decided to conduct a study. A retrospective review of 62 patients with T1,2 N0 M0 SCC of the oral tongue treated by only partial glossectomy at Cancer Institute of Tehran university was conducted (from 1991 to 2000). Most of these patients were in 7th decade of life, men were affected more than women. Cervical lymph node recurrence at 2 years was 45.1 percent (28 patients from 62). In 34 patients (54.9 percent) who had not any recurrence in neck, 12 patients had received prophylactic neck radiation therapy after operation. With excluding this group of patients, the rate of cervical recurrence in early oral tongue cancer will rise to 56 percent. According to these findings, it is recommended that elective node dissection should be considered in the initial management of T1,2 N0 M0 oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma in our country.

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Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE AR-SA MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Background: Seroma formation, or the subcutaneous collection of fluid, is a common problem after surgery for the breast cancer. It may lead to wound-related complications and also can delay adjuvant therapy. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of various clinical and therapeutic variables on seroma formation.
Methods: A prospective cross sectional study of patients who underwent surgical therapy for breast cancer was carried out. Modified radical mastectomy was performed on 67 patients (65%) and 28 patients (27.2%) underwent breast conservative surgery. Simple extended mastectomy was done for the remaining 8 patients (7.8%). Seroma formation was studied in relation to age, type of surgery, tumor size, nodal involvement, preoperative chemotherapy, surgical instrument (electrocautery or scalpel), use of pressure garment, and duration of drainage. All of the patients followed for 4 weeks after surgery.
Results:  A total of 103 patients with breast cancer were studied. The mean age of the patients was 48.3 years (25-82). Seroma occurred in 27 (26.2%) patients. There was statistically significant relation between age and seroma formation after breast cancer surgery (p=0.005), while other factors studied was found to be significantly ineffective. In addition, there was not any relation between seroma formation and drain duration. However, two factors including type of the operation and level of lymphatic dissection was considerable with confidence interval up to 90%, but it was not statistically significant with confidence interval >95% (p=0.068 and 0.063 respectively).
Conclusion: These findings suggest that the age is a predicting factor for seroma formation in breast cancer patients, while other factors do not significantly affect that.