title: Radiotherapy for head and neck cancer in Lombardy: a survey by the Lombardy Group of the Italian Association for Radiation Oncology.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  In 2013, a survey was conducted to analyze the available resources and their use in the radiation treatment of patients with malignancies of the head and neck region in Lombardy, on behalf of the Lombardy group of the Italian Association of Radiation Oncology.
  
  
  METHODS
  A questionnaire was sent to 26 of 34 radiotherapy centers active in the region. Two centers were excluded because they did not treat head and neck cancers (Besta Neurological Institute and Cyberknife center), 4 had started their activity in 2013 or late 2012, and 2 satellite centers had their results included in the main center's response. Items investigated included number of patients with head and neck cancer treated in 2012, general technical issues, and integration with surgery and chemotherapy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty-four questionnaires were returned (92% response rate). There was a good consistency on the use of radiotherapy in different settings, whereas integration with chemotherapy showed more heterogeneous data. Treatment techniques were 3D conformal radiotherapy or intensity-modulated radiotherapy with image-guided radiotherapy in most cases and a low rate of treatment-related death was observed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This survey provides important data on the use of radiotherapy resources for patients with head and neck cancer in Lombardy. The data offer the opportunity to further investigate issues that could better standardize head and neck cancer treatment and allocate resources across the region.
authors.affiliation: Radiation Oncology Department, A.O. Busto Arsizio, Varese - Italy.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Merlotti
authors.forename: Nadia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Di Muzio
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Antognoni
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Filippone
authors.forename: Ernestina
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bianchi
authors.forename: Simona
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Castiglioni
authors.forename: Lorenza
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bruschieri
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ivaldi
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: De Cicco
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Marzoli
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Orecchia
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D059248:Chemoradiotherapy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D016304:Hospitals, Private / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006779:Hospitals, Public / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018787:Radiation Oncology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011878:Radiotherapy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D020266:Radiotherapy, Conformal / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D061089:Radiotherapy, Image-Guided / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D050397:Radiotherapy, Intensity-Modulated / Q000706:statistics & numerical data