Abstract
The projected increase in life expectancy over the next few decades is expected to result in a rise in age-related diseases, including cancer. Head and neck cancer (HNC) is a worldwide health problem with high rates of morbidity and mortality. In this report, we have critically reviewed the literature reporting the management of older patients with HNC. Older adults are more prone to complications and toxicities secondary to HNC treatment, especially those patients who are frail or have comorbidities. Thus, this population should be screened prior to treatment for such predispositions to maximize medical management of comorbidities. Chronologic age itself is not a reason for choosing less intensive treatment for older HNC patients. Whenever possible, also older patients should be treated according to the best standard of care, as nonstandard approaches may result in increased treatment failure rates and mortality. The treatment plan is best established by a multidisciplinary tumor board with shared decision-making with patients and family. Treatment modifications should be considered for those patients who have severe comorbidities, evidence of frailty (low performance status), or low performance status or those who refuse the recommendations of the tumor board.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1957-1974 |
| Number of pages | 18 |
| Journal | Advances in Therapy |
| Volume | 40 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - May 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Healthcare Ltd., part of Springer Nature.
Funding
No funding or sponsorship was received for this study or publication of this article. Luiz Kowalski was responsible for concept and design of the study. Leandro Matos and Alvaro Sanabria did the literature review, wrote the manuscript, and performed the revision. All other co-authors (K. Thomas Robbins, Gyorgy Halmos, Primož Strojan, Wai Tong Ng, Robert Takes, Peter Angelos, Cesare Piazza, Remco de Bree, Ohad Ronen, Orlando Guntinas-Lichius, Avraham Eisbruch, Mark Zafereo, Antti Mäkitie, Ashok Shaha, Andres Coca-Pelaz, Alessandra Rinaldo, Nabil Saba, Oded Cohen, Fernando Lopez, Juan Rodrigo, Carl Silver, Timo Strandberg, Alfio Ferlito) wrote parts of the text according to each one's expertise and read, reviewed, and approved the final version of the manuscript. All authors (Leandro Matos, Alvaro Sanabria, K. Thomas Robbins, Gyorgy Halmos, Primož Strojan, Wai Tong Ng, Robert Takes, Peter Angelos, Cesare Piazza, Remco de Bree, Ohad Ronen, Orlando Guntinas-Lichius, Avraham Eisbruch, Mark Zafereo, Antti Mäkitie, Ashok R. Shaha, Andres Coca-Pelaz, Alessandra Rinaldo, Nabil Saba, Oded Cohen, Fernando Lopez, Juan Rodrigo, Carl E. Silver, Timo Strandberg, Luiz Kowalski, Alfio Ferlito) have read and approved the final version of the manuscript and declare to not have any actual, potential, or apparent conflict of interest concerning with this study. This article is based on previously conducted studies and does not contain any new studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.
Keywords
- Comorbidities
- Complications
- Head and neck cancer
- Old age
- Prognosis
- Treatment
