gms | German Medical Science

76th Annual Meeting of the German Society of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Head and Neck Surgery

German Society of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Head and Neck Surgery

04.05. - 08.05.2005, Erfurt

Resection of VX2 squamous cell carcinoma in an animal model and its influence on the incidence of lymphatic metastases

Meeting Abstract

  • corresponding author Nikolay Sapundzhiev - 1. Department of Otolaryngology, Sofia, Bulgaria
  • author Anja A. Dünne - Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Marburg, Germany
  • Annette Ramaswamy - Institute of Pathology, Marburg, Germany
  • author Jochen A. Werner - Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Marburg, Germany

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Hals-Nasen-Ohren-Heilkunde, Kopf- und Hals-Chirurgie. 76. Jahresversammlung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Hals-Nasen-Ohren-Heilkunde, Kopf- und Hals-Chirurgie e.V.. Erfurt, 04.-08.05.2005. Düsseldorf, Köln: German Medical Science; 2005. Doc05hno459

The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: http://www.egms.de/en/meetings/hno2005/05hno168.shtml

Published: September 22, 2005

© 2005 Sapundzhiev et al.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/deed.en). You are free: to Share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work, provided the original author and source are credited.


Outline

Text

Introduction: The auricular VX2 squamous cell carcinoma in New Zealand white rabbits (NZW) is an established model for lymphogenic metastasing in head and neck (HN) oncology.

Material and methods: In 71 NZW rabbits VX2 SCC was induced on the auricle. On the eighth day the tumor was resected with wide surgical margins (R0 resection with curative intent). Six weeks later the animals were sacrificed and examined for regional lymph node (LN) and distant metastases. Bad outcome was defined as early tumor-related death or poor general condition. Overall survival curves were obtained with the Kaplan-Meier method.

Results: The take rate of the tumor was 98.6%. In five animals (7%) local recurrences developed. In 28.2% metastatic involvement of the echelon parotideal LN was observed and in 15.5% - distant lung metastases. All animals with distant metastases had regional ones. Regional metastases presented in 100% of the animals with local recurrence and in 22.7% of the animals with successful R0 resection (p<0.001). Distant metastases presented in 80% of the animals with local recurrence and in 10.6% of the animals with successful R0 resection (p<0.001). Of the animals with local control achieved (n=66) those with positive LN had significantly higher incidence of distant metastases (87.4%) compared to those without LN involvement (0%, p<0.001). Regression analysis depicted the local recurrence as the most powerful prognostic factor for early tumor-related death. The presence of LN metastases was significantly associated with bad overall prognosis.

Conclusion: The evaluated animal model of SCC resembles HNSCC in humans morphologically (histologic aspects), in the process of metastasing and as a complex neoplastic disease. In an experimental setting aiming at curative R0 resection it has biologic behavior similar to clinical oncology. The achievement of complete tumoral resection proves to be the most important point in curative strategy.