Material and methods
A retrospective case series was conducted in a regional tertiary centre for management of head and neck malignancies. All patients undergoing TR for a SCC of the nasal vestibule between September 2003 and February 2021 were included. Patients with a follow-up shorter than three months were excluded. Patients undergoing TR for nasal malignancies other than SCC were also excluded (as outlined in figure 1). This study was registered with the local research and development department as a quality improvement project (reference number 10343). The methodology was in accordance with the Process 2020 Guideline (http://www.processguideline.com/).
Due to the absence of clear-cut recommendations or guidelines, the regional multidisciplinary team proposed upfront surgery (partial or total rhinectomy) whenever feasible. For clinically N0 (cN0) necks, the multidisciplinary team generally recommended an elective neck dissection for very advanced tumours only. Adjuvant radiotherapy was indicated for positive or close margins or advanced T stage. Prophylactic irradiation of the neck for N0 disease was not considered. Concurrent chemotherapy was considered if tumour was locally advanced (T4) or in the presence of nodal metastasis with extracapsular extension.
Patient charts were reviewed retrospectively to identify the following information; gender, age, comorbidities, risk factors, tumour staging, histological findings, type of surgery and reconstruction, complications, adjuvant therapy and follow-up. The main endpoints were Overall Survival (OS), Disease-Free Survival (DFS), Disease-Specific Survival (DSS), and the prognostic factors for recurrence.