The purpose of this research project is to measure changes in communication, swallowing and quality of life and individual patient priorities which may happen over time in patients with a diagnosis of recurrent head and neck cancer, specifically recurrent cancer (cancer which has returned after previous treatment) of the back of the throat, the tonsils and/or the base of tongue (recurrent oropharyngeal cancer) and what it is like for patients and their significant others to experience these changes over time.
Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Enrollment
25
Open salvage surgery, transoral robotic surgery, palliative chemotherapy, immunotherapy.
The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust
London, United Kingdom
Patient Reported Swallowing Related Quality of Life
Performance Scale for Head and Neck Cancer (PSS-HN) Normalcy of Diet (NoD) scores Three subscales: Normalcy of Diet, Understandability of Speech, Eating in Public Scores are combined to describe patient function in 6 areas (physical well-being, social and family well-being, relationship with doctor, emotional well-being, functional well-being, head \& neck related symptoms) Total score Scale 0 -100, a higher score indicating better performance/higher quality of life The score reported is the combined score with the total being the sum of the sub-scale scores
Time frame: Baseline, 3 months, 6 months
Swallowing Status Measured Using the 100ml Water Swallow Test
The Water Swallow Test is used to monitor swallow performance and possible aspiration - patients are viewed to have failed the test if they cough, have a wet voice quality post swallow or are unable to complete the task.
Time frame: Baseline, 3 months, 6 months
Swallowing Status Measured With the Standardisation Initiative Functional Diet Scale (IDDSI-FDS)
The scale consists of 8 levels (0-7) where drinks are measured as 0-4 to describe thickness (0 being thin, 4 being extremely thick) and foods are measured as 3-7 (3 being liquidised, 7 being regular/easy to chew) A higher score indicates a higher level of swallowing function, 0 being the lowest score, 7 being the highest score
Time frame: Baseline, 3 months, 6 months
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