Standard Follow Up Program For Head And Neck Cancer Patients

Definitive Version: 1 january 2012
Authors:

• Prof. dr. J.A. Langendijk, Department of Radiation Oncology, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
• Prof.dr. P Lambin. Department of Radiation Oncology (MAASTRO), Maastricht University Medical Center Maastricht (MUCM+), The Netherlands

General objective of the SFP
The primary and general objective of the clinical introduction of the SFP as the current standard of care is to improve the quality of radiotherapy for head and neck cancer patients by reducing radiation-induced side effects without hampering treatment efficacy in terms of locoregional tumour control and overall survival and to systematically evaluate the beneficial effect of newly introduced radiation technology for this particular group of patients. The clinical introduction of the SFP will allow for a systematic and broad scale quality improvement cycle for head and neck cancer patients treated with radiotherapy. In fact, this methodology can be considered a kind of quality circle for the clinical introduction of new radiation techniques, aiming at continueous efforts for further improvement.