Head and Neck Cancer Survivorship Care Guideline: American Society of Clinical Oncology Clinical Practice Guideline Endorsement Summary

The estimated numbers of new occurrences and deaths in 2016 in the United States due to cancers of the oral cavity, pharynx and larynx are 61,760 and 13,190, respectively.1 Single-modality therapy is used for localized head and neck cancer (HNC), whereas multimodality therapy is used for locoregionally advanced disease. Goals of care are improved organ preservation and reduced cancer mortality. Surgery, radiotherapy, and systemic chemotherapy can result in short-term and long-term adverse effects that need to be managed among those who survive HNC. These HNC survivors have unmet needs as a result of toxicity from their disease and treatment, and guidelines are required to optimize their primary health care and to enable the preservation of their quality of life.2 In addition, increasing incidence of human papillomavirus (HPV)-related HNC, primarily in the oropharynx, has been observed in the past few decades,3 and it is associated with a more favorable prognosis than HNC associated with other risk factors, such as smoking. Hence, as the survival rates of HNC improve, the care of HNC survivors may be transitioned over time from their treating oncology team to primary care clinicians. Guidance and recommendations to enable optimal management of HNC survivors, particularly by primary care clinicians, are needed. In 2016, the American Cancer Society (ACS) developed guideline recommendations for HNC survivorship care for primary care clinicians.4 This ASCO endorsement reinforces the recommendations offered in the ACS guidelines and acknowledges the effort put forth by the ACS to produce a combination of evidence and expert clinical practice–based management recommendations to guide HNC survivorship care across care delivery settings. In evaluating the guideline, the ASCO Panel recognized the limited evidence for many of the ACS recommendations and emphasized the importance of team-based, multispecialty, multidisciplinary collaborative care for HNC survivors. Additional information is available at www.asco.org/HNC-survivorship-endorsement. Patient information is available at www.cancer.net. THE BOTTOM LINE Head and Neck Cancer Survivorship Care Guideline: American Society of Clinical Oncology Clinical Practice Guideline Endorsement Summary ASCO endorses the ACS Head and Neck Cancer Survivorship Care Guideline, with modifications and additional ASCO Expert Panel statements. Target Population Adult post-treatment head and neck cancer (HNC) survivors. Target Audience ASCO emphasizes the role of multispecialty, multidisciplinary care of HNC survivors that may