Contact endoscopy for detection of residual or recurrent disease after radiotherapy for squamous cell carcinoma of the upper aerodigestive tract. Issue 4 (2nd April 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Kumar, S; Mishra, A K; Galagali, J R; Sethi, A; Malik, A
• Is Part Of: Journal of laryngology & otology. Volume 134:Issue 4(2020)
• Page Start: 344
• Page End: 349
• Publication Date: 2020-04-02
• Subjects: Endoscopy, -- Treatment Failure, -- Carcinoma, -- Squamous Cell, -- Observer Variation; Otolaryngology -- Periodicals; 617.51
• DOI: 10.1017/S0022215120000651
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0022-2151

Abstract

Abstract: Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate contact endoscopy in detecting local treatment failures post-radiotherapy in squamous cell carcinoma of the upper aerodigestive tract. Method: A total of 135 consecutive patients with suspected residual or recurrent cancer after definitive radiotherapy underwent contact endoscopy before biopsy. Contact endoscopy findings were compared with histopathological examination findings. Contact endoscopy could not be completed in 7 patients (5.9 per cent) and histopathological examination was inconclusive in 5 patients (3.7 per cent). The findings of the remaining 123 patients were compared. Results: The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of contact endoscopy were 88.75, 88.72 and 86.99 per cent, respectively, with similar results across various sites of upper aerodigestive tract. Inter-observer kappa value was 0.86 (95 per cent confidence interval: 0.79–0.93). The intra-observer kappa value was 0.93 (95 per cent confidence interval: 0.87–1.00) for the first observer and 0.95 (95 per cent confidence interval: 0.90–1.00) for second and third observers. Conclusion: Contact endoscopy showed the same high sensitivity and specificity with low inter- and intra-observer variability in detecting post-radiotherapy failures in cancer of the upper aerodigestive tract as has been shown in non-irradiated tissues in earlier studies.