TY - JOUR
T1 - The point of pain in head and neck cancer
AU - Bossi, Paolo
AU - Giusti, Raffaele
AU - Tarsitano, Achille
AU - Airoldi, Mario
AU - De Sanctis, Vitaliana
AU - Caspiani, Orietta
AU - Alterio, Daniela
AU - Tartaro, Tiziana
AU - Alfieri, Salvatore
AU - Siano, Marco
PY - 2019/6
Y1 - 2019/6
N2 - Head and neck cancer (HNC) can have a devastating impact on patient's lives as both disease and treatment may affect the ability to speak, swallow and breathe. These conditions limit the oral intake of food and drugs, reduce social functioning and impact on patient's quality of life. Up to 80% of patients suffering from HNC have pain due to the spread of the primary tumor, because of consequences of surgery, or by developing oral mucositis, dysphagia or neuropathy as toxic side effects of radiotherapy, chemotherapy or both. All healthcare professionals caring for HNC patients should assess palliative and supportive care needs in initial treatment planning and throughout the disease, with awareness when specialist palliative care expertise is needed. This paper focuses on assessment, characterizations and clinical management of pain in advanced HNC patients undergoing surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, also underlining the importance of symptom assessment in HNC survivors and the need of clinical research in this field.
AB - Head and neck cancer (HNC) can have a devastating impact on patient's lives as both disease and treatment may affect the ability to speak, swallow and breathe. These conditions limit the oral intake of food and drugs, reduce social functioning and impact on patient's quality of life. Up to 80% of patients suffering from HNC have pain due to the spread of the primary tumor, because of consequences of surgery, or by developing oral mucositis, dysphagia or neuropathy as toxic side effects of radiotherapy, chemotherapy or both. All healthcare professionals caring for HNC patients should assess palliative and supportive care needs in initial treatment planning and throughout the disease, with awareness when specialist palliative care expertise is needed. This paper focuses on assessment, characterizations and clinical management of pain in advanced HNC patients undergoing surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, also underlining the importance of symptom assessment in HNC survivors and the need of clinical research in this field.
KW - Clinical research
KW - Head and neck cancer
KW - Pain
KW - Quality of life
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U2 - 10.1016/j.critrevonc.2019.04.001
DO - 10.1016/j.critrevonc.2019.04.001
M3 - Review article
C2 - 31092385
AN - SCOPUS:85064072026
VL - 138
SP - 51
EP - 59
JO - Critical Reviews in Oncology/Hematology
JF - Critical Reviews in Oncology/Hematology
SN - 1040-8428
ER -