Management Practices of Head and Neck Cancer in Chinese Tertiary CareHospitals: A Multicenter Questionnaire-Based Survey AmongOncologists

摘要

This survey was conducted to determine the head and neck cancer (HNC) treatmentstrategies followed by oncologists in Chinese hospitals. It was aquestionnaire-based survey, conducted from October 2017 to January 2018 in 100random tertiary hospitals in 21 cities of China to elicit information fromoncologists on the management practices for treating HNC in China. A validated,structured questionnaire was used for formal investigation with oncologists. Thequestions regarding HNC types, treatment strategies used for locally advancedhead and neck cancer (LA HNC) and recurrent/metastatic head and neck cancer (r/mHNC), diagnosis and prognostic factors were included. The results were presentedas percentages. Among the 272 oncologists, 93.4% were from tertiary carehospitals, with 35.3% and 36.4% patients from radiotherapy (RT) and oncologydepartment, respectively. Nasopharyngeal carcinoma was the most commonly treatedtype of HNC according to 65.1% oncologists. Patients aged >75 years haveworse prognosis and 65% oncologists corroborated that age of the patientsinfluences treatment decision. Most of the oncologists (77.6%) preferredchemotherapy (CT) + anti–epidermal growth factor receptor targeted therapy asthe first-line therapy for r/m HNC. Approximately 95% of oncologists consideredinduction chemotherapy (ICT) to retain organ functions and tumor shrinkage and43.4% preferred ICT followed by chemoradiotherapy or ICT combined with RTfollowed by targeted therapy for LA HNC. For the management of HNC, Chineseoncologists recommended ICT with RT and targeted therapy for LA HNC and CTregimen combined with targeted therapy for r/m HNC.