Postradiotherapy surveillance practice for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma-too much for too little?

摘要

INTRODUCTION.: Limited information is available regarding surveillance patterns after head and neck cancer radiotherapy. We cataloged follow-up for a specified patient cohort treated at three neighboring university, community, and Veterans Administration institutions. METHODS.: One hundred fifteen patients were treated with curative intent between 1994-1998 with definitive or postoperative radiotherapy for newly diagnosed squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity, oropharynx, larynx, or hypopharynx. One hundred patients had continuous follow-up at their treating institution and were included for analysis. Median follow-up until disease recurrence or censorship was 28.5 months. RESULTS.: Median follow-up frequency was 5.7 visits/year and was highly variable. Although visit frequency correlated with disease stage and the presence of high-risk disease features, this association was lost when patients with early recurrences were removed from analysis. Procedure and test utilization closely mirrored visit frequency, resulting in a wide range of estimated yearly charges (