Cancer Care Navigation Improves Timeliness of Treatment in Head and Neck Cancer.

IF 2.2 3区医学 Q1 OTORHINOLARYNGOLOGY

Head and Neck-Journal for the Sciences and Specialties of the Head and Neck Pub Date : 2026-10-15 DOI:10.1002/hed.70513

Atif M Islam, Robert B Baldwin, Alec E Dallas, Brandon J Dyer, Alisa Vidwans, Emma Dunn, Chantell Preziosi, Samer T Elsamna, Julia Toman, Tara Mokhtari, Christopher J Nickel, Matthew Mifsud

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background: Timely access to oncologic care is critical for patients with head and neck cancer (HNC), yet delays in treatment remain widespread. We sought to determine whether implementation of a care navigation program was associated with improved timeliness.

Methods: Four hunded and four adult patients who underwent HNC resection with free flap reconstruction were retrospectively reviewed. The primary outcome was time to adjuvant therapy and disease-free survival.

Results: Median [IQR] age was 64 [58-73] years and 133 (33%) were women. Significant interval decreases were observed from surgery to initiation of adjuvant radiotherapy (56 [39-83] vs. 45 [31-64] days, p = 0.004). Log-rank testing revealed no difference in disease-free survival between pre- and postprogram cohorts (p = 0.7695).

Conclusions: Implementation of a care navigation program was associated with significant reductions in time to treatment. These findings suggest that structured pathways can meaningfully improve oncologic care delivery for HNC patients.

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癌症护理导航提高头颈癌治疗的及时性。

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来源期刊

Head and Neck-Journal for the Sciences and Specialties of the Head and Neck 医学-耳鼻喉科学

CiteScore

7.00

自引率

6.90%

发文量

278

审稿时长

1.6 months

期刊介绍： Head & Neck is an international multidisciplinary publication of original contributions concerning the diagnosis and management of diseases of the head and neck. This area involves the overlapping interests and expertise of several surgical and medical specialties, including general surgery, neurosurgery, otolaryngology, plastic surgery, oral surgery, dermatology, ophthalmology, pathology, radiotherapy, medical oncology, and the corresponding basic sciences.