More than 90% of malignant tumors diagnosed in the oral cavity are Oral Squamous Cell Carcinomas (OSCC) whose preferred location is the tongue. Classically, this disease has affected men preferentially, although recent studies suggest that trends are changing and the proportion of women with OSCC is increasing. In addition, the prevalence of oral cancer is also determined by some risk factors as alcohol consumption and tobacco. Currently, the Tumor, Node, Metastasis (TNM) classification is employed to defined tumor stage and based on this guide specific treatments are established. However, 5-year-survival does not exceed 50% of cases. The objective of this study is to determine whether a histological risk pattern indicative of higher recurrence might be present in T1-T2 tumors located in the anterior two thirds of the tongue. Samples from 26 patients with OSCC were analyzed and histological risk pattern of recurrent and non-recurrent tumors were compared. We have analyzed histological variables described in Anneroth and Brandwein-Gensler classifications. Additionally, we have also examined both clinical variables such as age, sex or comorbidities, as well as habits such as tobacco or alcohol consumption. We found that sex (male) and keratinization degree (high or moderate) are directly related with OSCC recurrence. In fact, free illness time is lower in men and higher in those cases with minimal or no keratinization. Based on the variables analyzed, it has not been possible to establish a histological risk pattern that, complementary to the TNM classification, could have a predictive role in these early-stage tongue carcinomas.

The pharmacological treatment of postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) is unsatisfactory, and there is a clinical need for new approaches. Several drugs under advanced clinical development are addressed in this review. A systematic literature search was conducted in three electronic databases (Medline, Web of Science, Scopus) and in the ClinicalTrials.gov register from 1 January 2016 to 1 June 2023 to identify Phase II, III and IV clinical trials evaluating drugs for the treatment of PHN. A total of 18 clinical trials were selected evaluating 15 molecules with pharmacological actions on nine different molecular targets: Angiotensin Type 2 Receptor (AT2R) antagonism (olodanrigan), Voltage-Gated Calcium Channel (VGCC) α2δ subunit inhibition (crisugabalin, mirogabalin and pregabalin), Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel (VGSC) blockade (funapide and lidocaine), Cyclooxygenase-1 (COX-1) inhibition (TRK-700), Adaptor-Associated Kinase 1 (AAK1) inhibition (LX9211), Lanthionine Synthetase C-Like Protein (LANCL) activation (LAT8881), N-Methyl-D-Aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonism (esketamine), mu opioid receptor agonism (tramadol, oxycodone and hydromorphone) and Nerve Growth Factor (NGF) inhibition (fulranumab). In brief, there are several drugs in advanced clinical development for treating PHN with some of them reporting promising results. AT2R antagonism, AAK1 inhibition, LANCL activation and NGF inhibition are considered first-in-class analgesics. Hopefully, these trials will result in a better clinical management of PHN.

Purpose: Background: Evaluate whether the design of placebo control groups could produce different interpretations of the efficacy of manual therapy techniques. Methods: Nine databases were searched (EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, MEDLINE, PubMed, SCOPUS, WEB of SCIENCE, COCHRANE, and PEDro). Randomized placebo-controlled clinical trials that used manual therapy as a sham treatment on subjects suffering from pain were included. Data were summarized qualitatively, and meta-analyses were conducted with R. Results: 53 articles were included in the qualitative analysis and 48 were included in the quantitative analyses. Manipulation techniques did not show higher effectiveness when compared with all types of sham groups that were analyzed (SMD 0.28; 95%CI [−0.24; 0.80]) (SMD 0.28; 95%CI [−0.08; 0.64]) (SMD 0.42; 95%CI [0.16; 0.67]) (SMD 0.82; 95%CI [−0.57; 2.21]), raising doubts on their therapeutic effect. Factors such as expectations of treatment were not consistently evaluated, and analysis could help clarify the effect of different sham groups. As for soft tissue techniques, the results are stronger in favor of these techniques when compared to sham control groups (SMD 0.40; 95%CI [0.19, 0.61]). Regarding mobilization techniques and neural gliding techniques, not enough studies were found for conclusions to be made. Conclusions: The literature presents a lack of a unified placebo control group design for each technique and an absence of assessment of expectations. These two issues might account for the unclear results obtained in the analysis.