American Cancer Society Head and Neck Cancer Survivorship Care Guideline
CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians
Cohen, E. E. W., LaMonte, S. J., et al. (2016).
CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, 66(3), 203-239.
This guideline provides recommendations for the care of adult post-treatment survivors of head and neck cancer. The intended audience is primary care clinicians, medical oncologists, and other clinicians caring for this population. Recommendations were developed by an expert panel after a systematic review of the literature.
American Cancer Society
The data in this guideline are included in other documents which can be found in the Associated Article section below.
<div>Primary care clinicians should refer individuals with hearing loss, vertigo, or vestibular neuropathy related to head and neck cancer treatment to appropriate specialists (i.e., audiologists) for assessment and treatment (Level IIA Evidence).</div>
<div>Primary care clinicians should refer head and neck cancer survivors for instrumental evaluation of swallowing (and management, if needed) by an experienced speech-language pathologist if there are complaints of dysphagia, coughing after eating, unexplained weight loss, or pneumonia (Level IIA Evidence).</div>
<div>If a communication disorder is present, head and neck cancer survivors should be referred to an experienced speech-language pathologist for assessment and treatment (Level IA and IIA Evidence).</div>
<div>Survivors of head and neck cancer should be assessed for speech disturbance (Level 0 Evidence).</div>
<div>Head and neck cancer survivors should be referred by their primary care clinician to dental professionals and rehabilitation clinicians that specialize in trismus specialists to treat trismus as soon as it is diagnosed (Level 0 Evidence).</div>
<div>If stricture is suspected, the primary care clinician should refer the individual for videofluoroscopy with a speech-language pathologist, given the high degree of coexisting physiologic dysphagia. If there is a stricture, primary care physicians should refer to gastroenterology or a head and neck surgeon (Level IIA Evidence).</div>
