title: Postoperative strategies after primary surgery for squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.
abstract: This review discusses the role of adjuvant treatment after curative surgery for patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). In general, patients with unfavourable prognostic factors have a high-risk of loco-regional recurrence and subsequent worse survival after surgery alone and are therefore considered proper candidates for adjuvant treatment by either postoperative radiotherapy alone or postoperative chemoradiation. Selection of the most optimal adjuvant treatment strategy should be based on the most important prognostic factors. In this review, the different treatment strategies will be discussed in general. More specifically, we will discuss the role of the interval between surgery and radiotherapy, the overall treatment time of radiation, the selection of target volumes for radiation and the value of adding concomitant chemotherapy to postoperative radiation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, University Medical Center Groningen/University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands. j.a.langendijk@rt.umcg.nl
authors.forename: Johannes A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Langendijk
authors.forename: Alfio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ferlito
authors.forename: Robert P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Takes
authors.forename: Juan P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Rodrigo
authors.forename: Carl
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Suárez
authors.forename: Primo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Strojan
authors.forename: Missak
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Haigentz
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rinaldo
mesh_terms: D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000517:prevention & control; D011182:Postoperative Care / Q000379:methods; D011184:Postoperative Period; D011379:Prognosis; D018714:Radiotherapy, Adjuvant / Q000379:methods; D016896:Treatment Outcome