Assessment of Different Therapeutic Strategies in Patients With Head and Neck Neoplasms Treated With Radiotherapy

Head and neck tumors refer to neoplasms that originate in the nasal cavities and paranasal sinuses, rhinopharynx/oropharynx/hypopharynx, salivary glands, oral cavity, and larynx, mostly represented by squamous cell carcinomas. Head and neck tumors account for 4.9% of all malignant tumors worldwide.

Treatment is mostly multimodal; the main therapeutic options include surgery, systemic therapy, and radiotherapy. Various treatments may serve as primary or adjuvant therapy depending on the specific neoplasm and the strategy adopted.

Regarding radiotherapy, it is often used in combination with other treatments depending on the stage, location of the disease, risk factors, or in a palliative setting. Dosages, fractionation, and techniques vary based on the type of neoplasm being treated and the purpose of the therapy (adjuvant, radical, palliative), as do the possible acute and late toxicities related to the treatment characteristics.

The purpose of the study is to systematically collect data related to radiotherapy treatment in head and neck neoplasms in order to evaluate outcomes in relation to dosages, fractionation, and techniques used, as well as combinations with other therapies and disease characteristics. Additionally, collecting data on both disease characteristics and treatments in a large sample may enable the assessment of any potential correlation with radiation-induced toxicities, allowing for future prediction and personalized prevention.

Enrolled patients will not have any direct benefit or harm from their participation in the study, as it is solely a data collection effort. Conversely, these data may lead to new insights that improve the management of the analyzed neoplastic diseases in the future.

The study thus aims to evaluate outcomes, toxicity, and the psychological impact on patients related to radiotherapy treatment concerning treatment settings, dosages, and techniques used, for both new diagnoses and cases already diagnosed and treated since January 1, 2000, at the Radiotherapy Unit of the S. Orsola Polyclinic. The structured data collection necessary for evaluating the objectives will cover the observation period from January 1, 2000, to December 15, 2030, involving approximately 3,000 patients (2,000 for the retrospective phase and 1,000 for the prospective phase).

Inclusion criteria

• Patients of both sexes, aged ≥ 18 years, with new or previous diagnosis of malignant neoplasm of the head and neck, from January 1, 2000, treated at the Radiotherapy Unit of the S. Orsola Polyclinic
• Obtaining informed consent

Exclusion criteria

• None