Long-term Functional Outcomes and Patient Perspective Following Altered Fractionation Radiotherapy with Concomitant Boost for Oropharyngeal Cancer

Abstract

Background: With no long-term data available in published research to date, this study

The lived experience of dysphagia following non-surgical treatment for head and neck cancer

“…As a consequence, in more recent literature there has been increased consideration of the functional outcomes and changes to quality of life (QoL) associated with dysphagia in the HNC population (Llewellyn, Weinman, McGurk, & Humphris, 2008;Lovell, Wong, Loh, Ngo, & Wilson, 2005;Nguyen et al, 2005). Whilst such research has furthered our understanding of the impact of dysphagia following HNC management, the majority of studies to date have applied quantitative methods to measure the extent of functional change (Barringer, Hutcheson, Sturgis, Kies, & Lewin, 2009;Cartmill, Cornwell, Ward, Davidson, & Porceddu, 2011a;Cartmill et al, 2012;Jensen et al, 2007) or change in QoL (Lovell et al, 2005;Maurer et al, 2011;Nguyen et al, 2005). The value of taking a quantitative approach has been to confirm that a problem exists (Llewellyn et al, 2008;Lovell et al, 2005;Murry, Madasu, Martin, & Robbins, 1998;Nguyen et al, 2005).…”

Current assessment and treatment strategies of dysphagia in head and neck cancer patients

“…Both acute and long-term swallowing dysfunction may occur. Cartmill et al [14] reported that swallowing function was significantly worse 2 years post-treatment compared with baseline.…”

“…In total, 11 studies or reviews discussed dysphagia assessment [3,4,8,9,14,[18][19]21 && ,23,29-30] (Tables 3 and 4). …”

“…The described swallowing assessment tools include clinical, instrumental, subjective and global functional evaluations [3,4,8,9,14,[18][19]21 && ,23, 29-30]. Evaluation should start with clinical assessments (medical history and physical examination) to screen for dysphagia, identify possible cause, determine risk of aspiration, ascertain need for nonoral nutrition and recommend additional procedures [4,21 && ].…”

Swallowing therapy and progressive resistance training in head and neck cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy treatment: randomized control trial protocol and preliminary data

“…Head and neck cancer (HNC) patients have challenges clustering around dysphagia, xerostomia, pain, and weight loss [3][4][5]. Dysphagia is considered the most prominent complication to HNC treatment as it impacts physical function and reduces quality of life (QoL) [6,7].…”