Patient Care Head and Neck Surgery

WashU Medicine Delivers Advances to H&N Cancer Patient Care

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Faculty and trainees from WashU Medicine Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery recently attended the 12th International Conference on Head and Neck Cancer, held in Boston, July 18-22.

The event – sponsored by the American Head and Neck Society – brought together global experts, researchers, surgeons and oncologists for four days of cutting-edge science, groundbreaking innovation and collaborative exchange.

The theme for this year’s meeting was Innovating Head and Neck Cancer Treatment through Multidisciplinary Collaboration. Participants got a glimpse of the future of head and neck cancer care as they appreciated recent advances in immunotherapy and robotic surgery and the latest solutions in survivorship and global outreach.

One special highlight of the meeting was the presentation of a Presidential Citation to WashU Medicine Professor of Otolaryngology and Vice-chair for Research Jay Piccirillo, MD, by AHNS President Bevan Yueh, MD, MPH.

photo of Jay Piccirillo receiving Presidential Citation
Jay Piccirillo, MD, receives a Presidential Citation from AHNS President Bevan Yueh, MD, MPH.

Attendees from WashU Medicine presented their own advances to the field, recent works covering basic and translational science, outcomes research and advances in clinical care models. Contributions from the group included the following.

Invited talks

A New Era of Science: Fundamentals of -Omics
Sidharth Puram, MD, PhD

Single-Cell Genomics of Tumor–Immune Ecosystems in Head & Neck Cancer
Sidharth Puram, MD, PhD

Tumor Heterogeneity and Precision Therapy
Sidharth Puram, MD, PhD

A Beginner’s Guide to Remote Access: Thyroid Dissection
R. Alex Harbison, MD

Reconstructive Options for Non-free Flap Candidates
Jason Rich, MD

Local Flaps
Patrik Pipkorn, MD

Total Glossectomy Reconstruction
Patrik Pipkorn, MD

Tumor Board Cases
Ryan Jackson, MD

Advantages/Disadvantages of Each Approach
Ryan Jackson, MD

photo of alums catching up
Professor of Otolaryngology Jason Rich, MD (center), catches up with WashU Medicine alums Ravi Uppaluri, MD, PhD (left), and Clint Allen, MD, during a department-sponsored alumni social.
Proffered Papers

APOBEC Dominant Mutational Signature Defines A Molecularly and Clinically Distinct Oral Cavity Cancer Subgroup
Benjamin M Wahle, Benjamin Adams, Richard A Harbison Ryan Jackson, Patrik Pipkorn, Jason Rich, Paul Zolkind, Angela Mazul, Jose Zevallos, D Neil Hayes and Sidharth Puram

An Integrated Patient Navigation Model Improves Time to Treatment and Peri-operative Outcomes in Head and Neck Cancer Patients
Ashwath Ashok, Sophia Tang, Patryk Dabek, Tonya Wibbenmeyer, Ashley Jackson, Crystal Lee, Kathleen Hogg, Kristin Schlueter, Janene Reeves, Molly Henn, Jordan Foy, Kaci Eikmann, Chiristi Longnecker, Angelleen Peters-Lewis,  John Lynch, Timothy Eberlein, Evan Graboyes, Craig Buchman, Anthony J Apicelli, Nikhil Rammohan, Jennifer De Los Santos, Jesse Zaretsky, Brendan Knapp, Christine Auberle, Peter Opelt, Sana D Karam, Jason Rich, Patrik Pipkorn, R. Alex Harbison, Paul Zolkind, Benjamin Wahle, Morgan Sandelski, Wade Thorstad, Douglas Adkins, Ryan S Jackson and Sidharth V Puram

Investigating Spatial Relationships Between Polyamines and T Cells in Head & Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma by Integrating Histology with Mass Spectrometry Imaging using SCALES
Dane N Fernandez, William T Andrews, Aleksandra Ogurtsova, Jing Wu, Cody Huffman, Maureen Kane, Jonathan D Powell, Rajarsi Mandal, Ngechi Nwankwoala, Ryan Jackson, Jason Rich, Patrik Pipkorn, Paul Zolkind, Ben Wahle, Logan Engle, Carole Fakhry, Daniel Miller, Siddharth V Puram, Gregory J Baker and Richard A Harbison

Enhancing Anti-Tumor Immunity by Targeting Polyamines in the Head and Neck Tumor Microenvironment
Cody Huffman, Jing Wu, Kevin Cho, Leah Shriver, Ryan S Jackson, Jason Rich, Paul Zolkind, Patrik Pipkorn, Benjamin Wahle, Nikhil Rammohan, Anthony J Apicelli, Christine Auberle, Guangyong Peng, Gary Patti, Sidharth V Puram and Richard A Harbison

photo of Drs Sprow and Rich at their poster
WashU Med Otolaryngology resident Holly Sprow, MD, and faculty mentor Jason Rich, MD, present their research findings at a poster session.

Mapping SNAI-Regulated Hybrid-E/M Circuitry Reveals Low-Toxicity Anti-Metastatic Vulnerabilities in HNSCC
Ananya Pal, Fudong Wang, Michael Moore, Zongtai Qi, Yi-Hsuan Chang, Marina Nogueira, Rachel Paolini, Robi Mitra and Sidharth Puram

Evaluation of TraceIT Tissue Marker to Mark the Primary Resection Bed Margins of Oropharyngeal Cancers: A Pilot Study
Theresa Tharakan, Wade Thorstad and Ryan Jackson

Voice Prosthesis Success After Total Laryngectomy: Predictors, Outcomes, and Morbidity
Ryan T Judd, Jacqueline Tardif and Matthew Old

CT-derived radiomics predict pathologic response to neoadjuvant immunotherapy in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma
Eric V Mastrolonardo, Daniel Uralov, Aryan Safakish, D. Alexander Cronkite, Ramez Philips, Yevgeniy Vinogradskiy and Adam J Luginbuhl,

High Morbidity and Poor Functional Outcomes after Functional Salvage Total Laryngectomy
Humzah Ali, Celeste S Kim, Georges E Daoud,Andrew M Peterson, Patrik Pipkorn, Katherine W Chang, Lauren Ottenstein, Nicole C Schmitt, Brian J Boyce, Azeem S Kaka, Harry M Baddour and Jennifer H Gross

Single-cell RNA-seq Reveals Cell Type-Specific Immune-Associated Signaling in Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma.
Roni Ochakovski, Avishai Wizel, Nickolas Dreher, Isabel Cioffi, Derrick T Lin, Sidharth V Puram, Yotam Drier and Anuraag S Parikh

Cost-Effectiveness of a Navigation-Based Intervention to Improve Timely Postoperative Radiation Therapy Initiation in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Jonathan M Hughes, Haluk Damgacioglu, Poria Dorali, Vlad C Sandulache, Bhisham S Chera, Katherine R Sterba, Chanita Hughes-Halbert, Emily Kistner-Griffin, Reid DeMass, Elizabeth G Hill, Jason G Newman, W. Greer Albergotti, Dauren Adilbay, Alex E Kejner, Judith M Skoner, Michael Bobian, Jennifer L Harper, John Kaczmar, Savannah A Zimmerman, Stacy Stewart, David J Hernandez, Ryan S Jackson, Sidharth V Puram, Russel Kahmke, Nosayaba Osazuwa-Peters, Gail Jackson, Brian Nussenbaum, Sue S Yom, Ashish A Deshmukh and Evan M Graboyes

A Multicenter Phase III Study Assessing Neoadjuvant APG- in Resectable HNSCC and Induction plus Maintenance APG- in Unresectable HNSCCJonathan D Schoenfeld, Sid Puram, et al.

Poster Presentations

Transoral Robotic Surgery in the Glottis & Subglottis: A Scoping Review
Carolyn J Khoury, Serena Pu, Ted Kuke, Bharat Panuganti, Harishanker Jeyarajan, Ryan Jackson, Diana N Kirke

Local vs Free Flaps for Cutaneous Head and Neck Cancer: Evaluating Differences in Complication Profiles and Treatment Burden
Andrew J Bellas, Ethan Lewis, Jackson Brown, Andrew Peterson, Dorina Kallogjeri and Jason Rich

Rediscovering the Webster Modification of the Bernard-von Burow Technique for Lower Lip Reconstruction and a Systematic Review
Holly Sprow, Jake O Rammell and Jason Rich