Anemia in patients with head and neck cancer current guidelines and literature review

Abstract

Anemia is one of the most common comorbidities among patients qualified for surgical treatment. The number of those that is even greater in the group that underwent oncological treatment, both for chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Anemia is associated with higher risk of perioperative complications and decrease overall survival. Directed diagnostics let for patient general condition evaluation and finding causes of anemia development, which is crucial for introducing aimed therapy. Implementation of effective therapy support the improvement of patients quality of life and the results of oncological treatment in this group of patients.