Electrochemotherapy is an effective and safe method for local treatment of cutaneous and subcutaneous tumours, where electric pulses cause increased permeability of cell membranes in the tumour mass, enabling dramatically enhanced effectiveness of bleomycin and other hydrophilic drugs. Here, we report results of a European multi-institutional prospective study of the effectiveness of electrochemotherapy in the treatment of skin cancer of the head and neck (HN) area, where standard treatments had either failed or were not deemed suitable or declined by the patient. A total of 105 patients affected by primary or recurrent skin cancer of the HN area were enrolled; of these, 99 were eligible for evaluation of tumour response. By far, the majority (82%) were treated only once, and 18% of patients had a second treatment. The objective response was highest for basal cell carcinoma (97%) and for other histologies was 74%. Small, primary, and treatment-naive carcinomas responded significantly better (p < 0.05), as investigated by univariate analysis. Electrochemotherapy was well tolerated and led to a significant improvement of quality of life, estimated by the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer quality of life questionnaires. At 1-year follow-up, the percentages of overall and disease-free survival were 76% and 89%, respectively. Electrochemotherapy is an effective option for skin cancers of the HN area and can be considered a feasible alternative to standard treatments when such an alternative is appropriate. The precise role for electrochemotherapy in the treatment algorithm for non-melanoma skin cancer of the HN region requires data from future randomised controlled studies. (ISRCTN registry N. 30427).

Patients with chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) often have coexisting asthma under the concept of “United Airway Disease”, being the combination of both diseases, which is one of the most challenging phenotypes to treat. Although clinicians have recognized this difficult-to-treat phenotype for many years, it remained poorly characterized. There is increasing epidemiological evidence linking chronic rhinosinusitis and asthma, but a good understanding of the pathophysiology and the combined management is still lacking. Bronchial asthma is more prevalent in patients who suffer chronic rhinosinusitis, while asthmatic patients have a greater prevalence of CRSwNP than patients without asthma. The effect of CRSwNP treatment, whether medical or surgical, in asthma is today less controversial after some studies have shown improvement of asthma after medical and/or surgical treatment of CRSwNP. However, direct comparisons between surgical and medical treatments are limited. Further randomized clinical trials are, however, still needed to better understand the management when both asthma and CRSwNP occur together. This review aims at summarizing the prevalence, impact, and management challenges regarding both asthma and CRSwNP.

Recently, we demonstrated that acoustic rhinometry (AR) measurements correlated with nasal cavity volumes in patients with nasal polyposis (NP). The aim of the present study was to evaluate whether AR and nasal nitric oxide (nNO) are useful methods in monitoring and follow-up of medical treatment of NP. Patients with severe nasal polyps were randomized into two groups after a 4-week steroid washout period (w0): a treatment group received oral prednisone for 2 weeks (w2) and intranasal budesonide for 12 weeks (w12) while the control group received no steroid treatment. Nasal volume (Vol 0-6), minimum cross-sectional area (mCSA), nNO, peak nasal inspiratory flow (PNIF), nasal obstruction, and smell loss were evaluated. At w2, the treatment group showed a significant increase of vol 0-6 compared to w0 and the control group. The mCSA area also increased compared to w0 and the control group. At w12, the improvement in vol 0-6 and mCSA was maintained after intranasal steroids compared to w0. At w2, the treatment group showed a paradoxical increase of nNO compared to w0 and the control group. At w12, this increase was maintained by intranasal steroids. Both oral and intranasal steroid treatments improve nasal patency and paradoxically increase nNO, by opening the ostiomeatal complex. This suggests that AR and nNO are useful methods in the monitoring and follow-up of patients with NP.