Are we doing enough to improve survivors QOL?
“Due to the progress in early detection and treatment of malignant diseases, more and more people live longer and longer with cancer and its aftermaths. However, survivors of cancer are not necessarily healthy and sound. It is still a devastating disease with many consequences, even in the long-run: bodily functions, appearance, social relations, job, fertility, trust into the world and others – all this and more can be changed. And all of these changes can affect the person’s quality of life.
Researchers now started to investigate long-term quality of life and late toxicities in head and neck cancer patients. This lecture gives an overview of recent results and provides suggestions for improving quality of life in head and neck cancer survivors."

QOL in H&N cancer treatment
"Quality of life and head and neck cancer. We usually discuss the importance of increasing quality of life as one of the most important objectives of the treatments, but this is often overshadowed by the need to increase the therapeutic effectiveness and by the toxicities of the same therapies. However, the topic of quality of life is strictly linked with the response obtained thanks to the treatments, and its importance cannot be underestimated in a complex disease as head and neck cancer is. Moreover, improvement in quality of life may be reached also by treatment de-escalation in patients at more favourable prognosis as the ones with HPV positive cancer; this topic is being investigated in several ongoing trials, and it reinforces the need to include QoL as essential endpoints in head and neck trials."

Innovative management of H&N cancer
“During the last decade, the therapeutic landscape of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck has undergone a paradigm shift with the successful introduction of immunotherapy in the recurrent and/or metastatic setting. We will discuss some of the novel strategies in the management of these patients including approaches incorporating novel agents and new diagnostic methods but also approaches focusing on optimization of the use of current standard-of-care options, such as systemic treatment sequencing, metronomic administration of medicines, and combination with local therapy in metastatic patients(surgery, radiotherapy). In locoregionally advanced disease, recent progress has been modest and marked by the negative results of trials exploring immunoradiotherapy. Nevertheless, neo-adjuvant and adjuvant delivery of immunotherapy remains promising with dedicated trials ongoing. Furthermore, new targeted agents and radiotherapy techniques have shown encouraging results in this setting and will be discussed here as well.”

Longstanding Formal Fellowship in The Netherlands: A Standard?
“This presentation will highlight the usefulness and perceived necessity of the advanced training in head and neck oncology and surgery in The Netherlands that is in place for the last 25 years. The aim is to guarantee and increase the care of the head and neck oncological patient in the future. This well-regulated and paid training after regular Otolaryngology or Maxillofacial surgery residency has a combined modular curriculum for the two specialties and involves 2 years. It may be considered a benchmark in Europe”

Let’s talk about formal trainning in head and neck surgery UK model
“We will discuss the training pathway for head and neck surgeons and oncologists in the UK. We will also touch up on clinician-scientist training pathways, and discuss the pros and cons.”