The outcomes and economic issues in head and neck cancer

Abstract

In the treatment of head and neck cancer, the efficacy, effectiveness, and efficiency are very important to remember. Effectiveness is the measurement of how the treatment works. Efficiency is the cost and effectiveness or value that the therapy offers for what is paid. In this treatment, three types of economic analyses are mostly applied, which provide the cost identification, cost effectiveness, and cost benefit.Head and neck oncology presents many potential opportunities for outcomes and economic problems. Clinical situations in which experienced clinicians approach a given problem differently are well documented. Some examples are total laryngectomy followed by postoperative radiation therapy versus a larynx preservation (irradiation only) approach for advanced laryngeal cancer, surgery versus radiation alone for the early stage of base-of-tongue cancer, computed tomography (CT) versus magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), routine triple endoscopy versus selective endoscopy in diagnostic evaluation, the frequency and content of checkup visits after treatment. Furthermore, many interventions are costly and, in certain settings, given the overall prognosis of the patient, the associated benefits are open to question.These opportunities for outcomes and economic problems in head and neck oncology, however, come with an equally long list of challenges. Many of the diseases exhibit heterogeneous clinical and prognostic behaviors.In conclusion, the management of head and neck cancer should take into consideration the problems of efficacy, effectiveness, and efficiency, as well as the issues of cost effectiveness and cost benefit.