The core function of a multidisciplinary team (MDT) is to bring together a group of healthcare professionals from different fields in order to determine patients' treatment plan. Most of head and neck cancer (HNC) units are currently led by MDTs that at least include ENT and maxillofacial surgeons, radiation and medical oncologists. HNC often compromise relevant structures of the upper aerodigestive tract involving functions such as speech, swallowing and breathing, among others. The impairment of these functions can significantly impact patients' quality of life and psychosocial status, and highlights the crucial role of specialized nurses, dietitians, psycho-oncologists, social workers, and onco-geriatricians, among others. Hence, these professionals should be integrated in HNC MDTs. In addition, involving translational research teams should also be considered, as it will help reducing the existing gap between basic research and the daily clinical practice. The aim of this comprehensive review is to assess the role of the different supportive disciplines integrated in an MDT and how they help providing a better care to HNC patients during diagnosis, treatment and follow up.

CISNE is a valid model for accurately classifying patients with cancer with seemingly stable FN episodes.

The study aimed to identify predictors of overall 30-day mortality in cancer patients with pulmonary embolism including suspected pulmonary embolism (SPE) and unsuspected pulmonary embolism (UPE) events. Secondary outcomes included 30- and 90-day major bleeding and venous thromboembolism (VTE) recurrence.The study cohort included 1033 consecutive patients with pulmonary embolism from the multicentre observational ambispective EPIPHANY study (March 2006-October 2014). A subgroup of 497 patients prospectively assessed for the study were subclassified into three work-up scenarios (SPE, truly asymptomatic UPE and UPE with symptoms) to assess outcomes.The overall 30-day mortality rate was 14%. The following variables were associated with the overall 30-day mortality on multivariate analysis: VTE history, upper gastrointestinal cancers, metastatic disease, cancer progression, performance status, arterial hypotension <100 mmHg, heart rate >110 beats·min, basal oxygen saturation <90% and SPE (versus overall UPE).The overall 30-day mortality was significantly lower in patients with truly asymptomatic UPE events (3%) compared with those with UPE-S (20%) and SPE (21%) (p<0.0001). Thirty- and 90-day VTE recurrence and major bleeding rates were similar in all the groups.In conclusion, variables associated with the severity of cancer and pulmonary embolism were associated with short-term mortality. Our findings may help to develop pulmonary embolism risk-assessment models in this setting.