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Background and purpose: Non-Hodgkin lymphomas are closely related diseases with distinctive morphologic, immunophenotypic, genetic, and clinical features. Genetic susceptibility studies of NHL are mandatory to identify at risk populations and to clarify important disease mechanisms. Caspase genes play a key role in regulation of apoptotic cell death, and dysregulation of this signaling pathway has been shown to participate in tumorigenesis. The current study aimed at defining the role of Caspase 8-D302H, Caspase 8-652 6N ins/del and Caspase 10-I522L genetic polymorphisms as risk factors for NHL and their possible role as genetic prognostic markers.

Methods: The present study included 100 Egyptian B-cell NHL patients and 100 healthy controls. Genotyping of the studied genes was performed by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCRRFLP) technique. Data was analyzed using SPSS statistical package version 15.

Results: The study revealed that CASP8-D302H mutant genotypes were significantly higher in NHL patients when compared to the controls and conferred increased risk of NHL. For CASP8-652 6N ins/del and Casp10- I522L, there was no statistical difference in the distribution of the different genotypes between NHL cases and the controls. Furthermore, there were no statistical differences between NHL patients harboring the wild or mutant genotypes of the studied genes as regards their response to therapy.

Conclusions: CASP8-D302H genetic polymorphism represents a genetic risk factor for NHL in Egyptian population. Hopefully, better understanding of the functional consequences of caspase genes polymorphism would provide a foundation for future studies of the possible role of these genes in lymphomagenesis.

Objective: The objective of this study is to investigate T4 laryngeal cancer cases with skin infiltration regarding survival and different variables that may influence the survival. Study design: This is a retrospective analytic study. Material and methods: This study included 14 patients suffering from laryngeal carcinoma with tumor extending to involve the skin of the front of the neck. Total laryngectomy was performed for all patients together with excision of the overlying skin and pectoralis major myocutaneous flap (PMMF) was used for reconstruction of the skin defect in all cases. Analysis of the pre-operative, operative, post-operative and follow up patients' data was done. The one, 2, 3 and 5 years survival rates were estimated. Results: The overall mean survival time for all cases was 51.1±8.3 months. The mean survival time for cases with recurrent disease was 16.4±3.5 months and for cases without recurrent disease was 70.7±6 months. The one,2,3 and 5 years survival rates were 92.9%, 71.4%, 64.3% and 50% respectively. The univariate analysis revealed that previous treatment before definitive surgery was the only variable that had a statistical influence on the overall 5 years survival rate (P=0.046). Conclusion: Extended laryngectomy with skin removal offers reasonable 5 years survival rate for T4 laryngeal cancer cases with skin invasion and reconstruction of the neck skin defect with a pectoralis major myocutaneous flap is a reliable method of repair.