New way to identify patients at risk of dysphagia after head and neck cancer treatment
Friday, February 25, 2011 - 07:03
in Health & Medicine
At the 3rd International Conference on innovative approaches in Head and Neck Oncology (ICHNO), Dr Hanna Rahbek Mortensen and colleagues at hospitals and institutes in Denmark presented results from a large prospective trial, the DAHANCA 6 & 7 study. The study, conducted across the country, investigated risk factors for developing dysphagia (swallowing dysfunction), after undergoing radiotherapy treatment for a head & neck cancer. "We followed 1,476 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck and found out the existence of factors related to the cancer itself, to the patient and to the treatment influencing the development of dysphagia," said Dr Mortensen.
