Onkológia 4/2017

The late or incorrect diagnostic and treatment of head and neck cancer – cases

Purpose: Early treatment of malignant tumor within 31 days from setting the diagnosis is a gold standard in the advanced health world of the 21st century. In countries with high-quality health care the diagnosis and treatment of patients with head and neck tumors is centralized into oncology centers, the main component of which is an oncology-oriented ENT department with educated and erudite „head-and-neck“ surgeons with a sufficient number of operations per year. The situation in Slovakia is different. Only one from the three oncology institutes in Slovakia has ENT department so we are absent from the concept of institutionalized care for patients with head and neck cancer. The diagnosis and treatment of the head and neck tumors is practically evaluated by any ENT physician, any ENT department eventually oncology department that have not options to consult a surgeon. Cases: Our patients are losing in these unfavourable conditions without a consistent oncology concept. In this article we present five of them. Conclusion: The Slovak patient with head and neck cancer who is hoping for early and proper treatment, he must have the chance that the diagnosis will be determined in time and correctly eventually that he gets to a competent doctor - a specialist who sets the right medical procedure. The cases of our five patients who did not have such fortune should be the impulse for active reflection on accelerated development of the concept of oncology care for patients with head and neck cancer in Slovakia which should include teams of specialists in established oncology centers.

Keywords: head and neck cancer, surgical treatment, radiotherapy, chemotherapy