Comorbidity and diagnostic delay in cancer of the larynx, tongue and pharynx

Prevalence and incidence of acute and chronic comorbidity in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck

“…Most previous studies of comorbidity in SCCHN used either a cross-sectional approach 8,9 or defined comorbidities using a composite comorbidity index. 8,[10][11][12][13][14][15] As a result, limited quantitative data exist to describe the burden of distinct comorbid illnesses diagnosed prior to SCCHN or that arise during the treatment phase. Therefore, a longitudinal study was conducted among a population-based cohort of patients with SCCHN to assess the prevalence and incidence of comorbidities, including cardiovascular diseases, asthma/chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), liver disease, diabetes, anemia, pneumonia, depression, and other malignant disease, and to compare these rates with those observed in a matched noncancer control population.…”

Lean Six Sigma Applied to Ultrasound Guided Needle Biopsy in the Head and Neck

“…Early diagnosis and treatment are especially critical to survival in patients with head and neck malignancies. [1][2][3][4][5] Author Contributions…”

“…In the case of head and neck cancer, clearly lower stage cancers, which are presumably diagnosed earlier, have a better prognosis and survival than late stage or widely metastatic tumors. [1][2][3][4][5] Factors that influence productivity and efficiency include ''infrastructure, human resource management, scheduling variation, process flow, technology, and information management limitations.'' 6 We had concerns of inefficiencies in the existing process for obtaining guided needle biopsies of head and neck masses.…”

French Society of ENT (SFORL) guidelines for care pathway organization in head and neck oncology (short version). Early management of head and neck cancer

“…Waiting time should be as short as possible so as not to delay treatment initiation, and comprises two periods: the time needed for assessment and discussion of the patient's file in MDTM, and the time needed to set up treatment (surgery, radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy). Delay in assessment or treatment results in advanced tumor and worsened prognosis [3] (level of evidence 2), [4] (level of evidence 3). Each week of waiting time for radiation therapy reduces tumoral control by 1% [5] (level of evidence 4).…”

“…Altogether, the literature points to a negative impact of increased time to treatment on local control and survival [3] (level of evidence 2), [4] (level of evidence 3).…”