Head and Neck Oncology Journal Club

About Head and Neck Oncology Journal Club

A weekly podcast breaking down the latest peer-reviewed research in head and neck surgery and oncology. Perfect for busy clinicians.

Publisher

Krishnakumar Thankappan

Category

health & fitness · health & fitness

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

3 Dec 2025

Latest episode

26 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

27 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   26 Sept 2026

   Predicting Recurrence After Skull Base Surgery for Malignant Tumours

   After skull base surgery for a malignant tumour, what is the chance of the disease coming back, and where? In this episode, we look at a study that used data from the Second International Collaborative Study on skull base surgery, covering 28 institutions. It built and validated nomograms to predict local, regional and distant recurrence in 2,179 previously untreated patients treated between 1995 and 2015. The models were built on patients from North America and Europe and tested on patients from South America, Australia and Asia. Histology, pT3 or T4 disease, nodal involvement, brain invasion and positive margins were the main predictors of recurrence. Melanoma carried a hazard ratio of 13.0 for distant recurrence. The distant recurrence nomogram performed best on external validation, with a C-index of 0.698, while the regional model was weakest at 0.600. We also discuss the study's limitations and how these tools might help with counselling and planning surveillance. In this episode: Study design and the geographic validation approach Histology risk groups Predictors of local, regional and distant recurrence How the nomograms work and how well they perform Limitations Bottom line for clinical practice Source paper: Valero C, Ganly I, Boe LA, Patel SG, et al. Nomograms Predictive of Recurrence in Malignant Tumors Treated With Skull Base Surgery: An International Collaborative Study. Head & Neck. 2026. https://doi.org/10.1002/hed.70390 (https://doi.org/10.1002/hed.70390) Host: Krishnakumar Thankappan Head and Neck Oncology Journal Club

2. 

   22 Sept 2026

   Does Postoperative Radiation Improve Survival in Salivary Gland Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma?

   After complete resection of a parotid or submandibular adenoid cystic carcinoma, does postoperative radiation help patients live longer? In this episode, we look at an updated National Cancer Database analysis from Memorial Sloan Kettering of 2,384 patients treated between 2004 and 2021. Postoperative radiation was associated with better 8-year overall survival: 76.9 percent against 70.3 percent, with an adjusted hazard ratio of 0.76. The benefit extended to early-stage and margin-negative disease. The exception was pT3 to 4 tumours with positive margins, where radiation was not associated with better survival. This may be a biologically aggressive group that needs more than local treatment. We also discuss what the database cannot tell us, including local control and cancer-specific survival, and what these findings mean for tumour board decisions. In this episode: Study design and patient selection Survival by tumour stage and margin status The pT3 to 4 margin-positive subgroup Limitations of registry data Bottom line for clinical practice Source paper: Chadha N, Ashji G, Ramanan S, Dee EC, et al. Adjuvant radiation for major salivary gland adenoid cystic carcinoma in the modern era: updated patterns of care and survival from the National Cancer Database (2004 to 2021). Oral Oncology. 2026;181:108107. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oraloncology.2026.108107 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oraloncology.2026.108107) Host: Krishnakumar Thankappan Head and Neck Oncology Journal Club

3. 

   29 Aug 2026

   FDG PET/CT for Restaging and Distant Metastasis Detection in Recurrent Head and Neck Cancer

   Recurrent head and neck cancer forces one binary decision: salvageable, or systemic? The standard workup answers it with a chest CT. A 500-patient series from Tata Memorial suggests that's looking in the wrong place first, bone, not lung, was the commonest site of distant spread, and one patient in ten had metastases a neck and chest CT could not see. Full description Episode 22. Krishnakumar Thankappan reviews Prakash, Purandare and colleagues on FDG PET/CT for restaging recurrent head and neck carcinoma, published ahead of print in the Indian Journal of Nuclear Medicine on 17 August 2026. Five hundred patients with histopathologically proven recurrent HNSCC, restaged with PET/CT between 2010 and 2018. Distant metastases were found in 28.8%. Ninety-eight patients had extrathoracic disease; 54, 10.8% of the cohort, had extrathoracic metastases with nothing in the chest at all, and management changed in every one of them. The episode also takes the reported 100% sensitivity apart. Only 8 of those 54 cases had histopathological confirmation; the rest were adjudicated by follow-up imaging or by an MDT that had the PET in front of it. Plus what actually predicts distant spread on multivariate analysis, why SUVmax is useless for triage, and how a 2018 data cutoff changes what the finding now means. Chapters 0:06 — Opening 0:37 — The clinical question 1:40 — Study design and cohort 2:28 — Results: 28.8%, and bone ahead of lung 4:06 — What this does not show 5:32 — Who to refer for PET/CT 6:53 — Limitations 7:35 — Bottom line Numbers from the episode 144/500 (28.8%) with distant metastases · 54 (10.8%) extrathoracic only · skeletal 34% vs lung 30% · recurrent stage IV, OR 2.06 (1.29–3.29) · shorter DFI, OR 0.92 (0.87–0.98) · optimal DFI cut-off 10 months · SUVmax AUC 0.61 Paper Prakash A, Purandare NC, Shah S, Puranik AD, Agrawal A, Pantvaidya G, et al. Utility of FDG PET/CT in Restaging and Detection of Distant Metastases in Recurrent Head and Neck Carcinoma. Indian J Nucl Med. doi: 10.25259/IJNM_71_2026 (https://doi.org/10.25259/IJNM_71_2026) Music: "Podcast Intro / Opening Talk Show" by Alex Morgan (Pixabay). Numbers from the episode 144/500 (28.8%) with distant metastases · 54 (10.8%) extrathoracic only · skeletal 34% vs lung 30% · recurrent stage IV, OR 2.06 (1.29–3.29) · shorter DFI, OR 0.92 (0.87–0.98) · optimal DFI cut-off 10 months · SUVmax AUC 0.61 Paper Prakash A, Purandare NC, Shah S, Puranik AD, Agrawal A, Pantvaidya G, et al. Utility of FDG PET/CT in Restaging and Detection of Distant Metastases in Recurrent Head and Neck Carcinoma. Indian J Nucl Med. doi: 10.25259/IJNM_71_2026 (https://doi.org/10.25259/IJNM_71_2026) Music: "Podcast Intro / Opening Talk Show" by Alex Morgan (Pixabay).

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Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

2 ratings