Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2010 Jul 15;116(14):3408-16.
doi: 10.1002/cncr.25031.

Compliance with quality assurance measures in patients treated for early oral tongue cancer

Amy C Hessel  1 , Mauricio A Moreno, Ehab Y Hanna, Dianna B Roberts, Jan S Lewin, Adel K El-Naggar, David I Rosenthal, Randal S Weber
Affiliations

Compliance with quality assurance measures in patients treated for early oral tongue cancer

Amy C Hessel et al. Cancer. .

Abstract

Background: The objective of this study was to identify measurable parameters that provide quality data for assessing how well cancer care adheres to accepted treatment guidelines and is delivered to any given patient with oral tongue cancer.

Methods: A retrospective chart review included 116 patients treated for T1-T2/N0-N1 squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the oral tongue between 1998 and 2003. A set of quality measures considered critical for outcome included: 1) accurate TNM staging at presentation, 2) documentation of margin status, 3) appropriate referral for adjuvant radiation therapy, and 4) neck dissection for depth of invasion>4 mm. In addition, 26 clinical endpoints involving pretreatment assessment, staging, treatment, surveillance, and symptom control were analyzed.

Results: Patients comprised 73 men and 43 women (median age, 57 years). Forty-one (35.3%) patients presented with stage I disease, 61 (52.6%) with stage II, and 14 (12.1%) with stage III. The overall 5-year survival rate for all patients was 68.6%. There was a 90.5% compliance with TNM staging at presentation, 99.1% for documentation of margin status, 98.2% for adequate referral to radiation therapy, and 88.7% for appropriate neck dissection based on depth of invasion. Compliance with clinical endpoints was variable and ranged from 100% for endpoints related to radiation therapy to <40% for endpoints related to speech pathology and rehabilitation.

Conclusions: Overall compliance with documenting the 4 parameters designated as quality measures for treatment of oral tongue SCC was acceptable, thus demonstrating that it is possible to use these data for measuring effective cancer care.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest Disclosures: none

References

    1. Hewitt ME, Simone JV. Ensuring quality cancer care Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1999:ix, 246. - PubMed
    1. United States Department of Health and Human Services Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Available for URL: http://www.ahrq.gov/consumer/qnt [accessed 04/22/2009].
    1. Goodwin WJ Jr. Salvage surgery for patients with recurrent squamous cell carcinoma of the upper aerodigestive tract: when do the ends justify the means? Laryngoscope 2000;110(3 Pt 2 Suppl 93):1–18. - PubMed
    1. Sessions DG, Spector GJ, Lenox J et al. Analysis of treatment results for floor-of-mouth cancer. Laryngoscope, 2000. 110(10 Pt 1): p. 1764–1772. - PubMed
    1. Sessions DG, Spector GJ, Lenox J, Haughey B, Chao C, Marks J Analysis of treatment results for oral tongue cancer. Laryngoscope, 2002. 112(4): p. 616–25. - PubMed