No definite symptom index for recurrence in head and neck cancer, small study suggests

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In patients treated for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), there was no definite index of symptoms that indicated local recurrence or second primary malignancy in a small Taiwanese study published online ahead of print in Head & Neck.1

Pei-Hsuan Lin, MD, and fellow researchers from the National Taiwan University examined 136 patients with HNSCC who were diagnosed between January 2010 and June 2014, 32 of whom had local recurrence and 14 of whom had second primary malignancy.

“The purposes of this study were to identify an index of symptoms and signs of swallowing disorders that indicate the occurrence of local recurrence or second primary malignancy,” the authors noted.

They found that common swallowing disorders and objective transnasal esophagoscopy findings were similar between patients with and without local recurrence or second primary malignancy.

“Routine transnasal esophagoscopy examination of patients treated for HNSCC with swallowing disorders is strongly recommended,” the authors concluded.

Reference:
Lin P-H, Wang C-P, Lou P-J, et al. Evaluation of swallowing disorders by use of transnasal esophagoscopy in patients treated for head and neck cancer. [published online ahead of print September 2, 2015]. Head Neck. doi: 10.1002/hed.24174.