Head and neck cancer associated with myiasis

K K N Gonçalves; E S M de Araújo; D S Barbirato; C A P do Lago; B C do Egito Vasconcelos

doi:10.1016/j.ijom.2021.08.011

Head and neck cancer associated with myiasis

Int J Oral Maxillofac Surg. 2022 Jul;51(7):847-853. doi: 10.1016/j.ijom.2021.08.011. Epub 2021 Oct 1.

Authors

K K N Gonçalves¹, E S M de Araújo², D S Barbirato¹, C A P do Lago³, B C do Egito Vasconcelos⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University of Pernambuco, Recife-PE, Brazil.
² Faculty of Dentistry of Pernambuco, University of Pernambuco, Recife-PE, Brazil.
³ Maxillofacial Surgery and Traumatology Service, Hospital da Restauração, Recife-PE, Brazil.
⁴ Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University of Pernambuco, Recife-PE, Brazil; Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Hospital da Restauração, Pernambuco, Brazil. Electronic address: belmiro.vasconcelos@upe.br.

PMID: 34602319
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijom.2021.08.011

Abstract

Head and neck cancer patients represent a risk group for the development of fly larvae infestation in neoplastic wounds. This condition can accelerate the disease progression and increase its lethality due to local or systemic complications. The aim of this study was to conduct a scoping review on head and neck cancer associated with myiasis in order to answer the focal question: what are the occurrence, diagnosis, aetiology, treatment and outcomes of head and neck cancer associated with myiasis? This paper was structured based on the five-steps methodology proposed by Arksey and O'Malley (Int J Soc Res Methodol 2005;1:19-32), and followed the PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR), OSF Registries protocol. The electronic search was performed in the MEDLINE/PubMed, Embase and SciELO.org databases for articles published up to 28 February 2021. In total, 38 articles and 56 patients were included. Most patients were male (66%), and the mean age was 66.63 years. Cases were predominantly associated with squamous or basal cell cancer. The most affected anatomical sites were the eyes, scalp, ears and oral cavity, and the most frequent type of larva was Crisomyia (13%). Manual removal of the larvae was considered the standard treatment, associated or not with antibiotics, analgesics and antiparasitic drugs.

Keywords: carcinoma; diptera; head and neck neoplasms; larva; myiasis.

Publication types

Review
Systematic Review

MeSH terms

Animals
Female
Head and Neck Neoplasms*
Humans
Larva
Male
Myiasis* / diagnosis
Myiasis* / parasitology
Myiasis* / therapy
Risk Factors
Skin Neoplasms*