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
Review
. 2019 Jul 30:9:700.
doi: 10.3389/fonc.2019.00700. eCollection 2019.

Monitoring and Evaluation of Late Functional Outcome in Post-treatment Follow-Up in Clinical Routine Setting

Veit Zebralla  1 , Sylvia Meuret  1 , Susanne Wiegand  1
Affiliations
Review

Monitoring and Evaluation of Late Functional Outcome in Post-treatment Follow-Up in Clinical Routine Setting

Veit Zebralla et al. Front Oncol. .

Abstract

Patients treated for head and neck cancer (HNC) often suffer from severe and visible loss of function as the cancer itself and the side effects of aggressive treatments have the potential to severely affect quality of life. Therefore, the aim of follow-up is not only the early detection of potentially curable recurrences and second primary tumors but also the diagnosis and rehabilitation of functional impairments. Clear guidelines determining the frequency of follow-up visits are missing, and the impact of follow-up visits on patient's prognosis is unclear. An intensive post-treatment follow-up is needed to detect functional impairments and to initiate their treatment. The aim is an optimal rehabilitation of the patients. This article focusses on goals of aftercare treatment and describes the spectrum of long-term sequelae, and the impact of Patient Reported Outcome (PRO) instruments of which three will be introduced.

Keywords: PRO; aftercare; follow-up; functional impairment; head neck cancer; survivorship.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Cohen EE, LaMonte SJ, Erb NL, Beckman KL, Sadeghi N, Hutcheson KA, et al. . American Cancer Society head and neck cancer survivorship care guideline. CA Cancer J Clin. (2016) 66:203–39. 10.3322/caac.21343 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Simo R, Homer J, Clarke P, Mackenzie K, Paleri V, Pracy P, et al. . Follow-up after treatment for head and neck cancer: United Kingdom National Multidisciplinary Guidelines. J Laryngol Otol. (2016) 130:S208–11. 10.1017/S0022215116000645 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Elbers JB, Al-Mamgani A, van den Brekel MW, Józwiak K, de Boer JP, Lohuis PJ, et al. . Salvage surgery for recurrence after radiotherapy for squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. (2018) 160:1023–33. 10.1177/0194599818818443 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Morton RP, Hay KD, Macann A. On completion of curative treatment of head and neck cancer: why follow-up? Curr Opin Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. (2004) 12:142–6. 10.1097/00020840-200404000-00015 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Morris LG, Sikora AG, Hayes RB, Patel SG, Ganly I. Anatomic sites at elevated risk of second primary cancer after an index head and neck cancer. Cancer Causes Control. (2011) 22:671–9. 10.1007/s10552-011-9739-2 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources