Comorbidity in patients with head and neck cancer can influence therapeutic decision-making. Prospective longitudinal rigorous collection of comorbidity data is warranted for correlation with outcomes. ACE-27 may be a clinically more meaningful tool for comorbidity assessment.

Xerostomia is a common complication following radiotherapy for head and neck cancers. This has long-term implications on the quality of life of these patients. The better understanding of salivary function and the interaction of radiotherapy dose-volume and fractionation with salivary function has allowed us to intervene with various modalities to prevent or treat this common complication. Thus we present a review of published literature describing the factors affecting xerostomia, its prevention and treatment.