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(1) Background: The aim of this study was to investigate caregiver burden among informal caregivers of head and neck cancer patients, in relation to distress and quality of life (QoL), and the relationship between informal caregivers and patients. (2) Methods: Data of 234 dyads from the multicenter prospective cohort study Netherlands Quality of life and Biomedical Cohort studies in cancer was used. Caregiver burden, psychological distress, global QoL, physical and social functioning were measured from baseline until 24 months after treatment. (4) Conclusions: This prospective cohort study shows the high burden of caring for HNC patients, the impact of this burden and the interaction between caregiver and patient. We suggest that healthcare professionals include caregivers in counseling and support.

Objectives A previously developed decision model to prioritize surgical procedures in times of scarce surgical capacity used quality of life (QoL) primarily derived from experts in one center. These estimates are key input of the model, and might be more context-dependent than the other input parameters (age, survival). The aim of this study was to validate our model by replicating these QoL estimates. Methods The original study estimated QoL of patients in need of commonly performed procedures in live expert-panel meetings. This study replicated this procedure using a web-based Delphi approach in a different hospital. The new QoL scores were compared with the original scores using mixed effects linear regression. The ranking of surgical procedures based on combined QoL values from the validation and original study was compared to the ranking based solely on the original QoL values. Results The overall mean difference in QoL estimates between the validation study and the original study was − 0.11 (95% CI:  -0.12 - -0.10). The model output (DALY/month delay) based on QoL data from both studies was similar to the model output based on the original data only: The Spearman’s correlation coefficient between the ranking of all procedures before and after including the new QoL estimates was 0.988. Discussion Even though the new QoL estimates were systematically lower than the values from the original study, the ranking for urgency based on health loss per unit of time delay of procedures was consistent. This underscores the robustness and generalizability of the decision model for prioritization of surgical procedures.

Objective Patients with palliative head and neck cancer experience many symptoms in a short period of time. Longitudinal data on patient-reported outcomes in this phase are lacking. The aim of this study is to use structurally obtained patient-reported outcome data combined with clinical patient data and obtain insight in patient-reported outcomes, survival, circumstances of death, and interventions and treatment during the palliative phase in order to improve the quality of end-of-life care and patient-centered counseling. Study Design Longitudinal observational cohort study. Setting Tertiary cancer center. Method Quality of life was prospectively collected using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer QLQ-C15-PAL. Tumor- and patient-specific data were retrospectively collected. Descriptive statistics, linear mixed models, and regression analyses were performed. Results A significant deterioration was found in global health status, physical functioning, fatigue, dyspnea, appetite loss, and constipation over time. However, emotional functioning improved. Median survival was 5.1 months, and only a low percentage of in-hospital death was observed (7.8%). Higher global health status at intake was associated with prolonged survival. Conclusion Structural measurement of patient-reported outcome together with clinical outcomes provides unique insight, which enables improvement of patient-centered counseling and care.