It will take place Saturday 13 maggio 2023 (from 8.30 to 13.30), in the Aula Magna of the Cona hospital, the conference entitled “The Diagnostic Therapeutic Pathway of head and neck cancer: meeting with the Multidisciplinary Team”. The scientific appointment is organized by Surgical Medical Society of Ferrarain collaboration with the Otolaryngology Operating Unit (ORL) and the Intercompany Training and Updating Service of the University Hospital of Ferrara.
The aim of the meeting is to illustrate the Diagnostic Therapeutic and Assistance Pathway (PDTA) – recently implemented at the Sant’Anna of Ferrara, which represents a tool to guarantee patients affected by oncological pathology of the head and neck district theaccess to benefits necessary and therapid execution of the diagnostic and therapeutic iter.
THE HEAD-NECK PDTA. Sharing a PDTA is an essential and indispensable element for the treatment and cure of pathologies.
The head-neck PDTA provides for the integrated participation of several specialists and professionals (Multidisciplinary Group) and is characterized by the mandatory participation of certain specialized professional figures (core team) and by the “optional” presence of other figures, required only for some specific individual needs of the patients (extended team). Of the core team they include: head and neck surgeon (otolaryngologist), radiation oncologist, medical oncologist, dedicated radiologist, pathologist and dedicated nurse/case manager. L’extended team it is instead composed of: nuclear doctor, interventional sonographer, plastic surgeon, maxillofacial surgeon, speech therapist and nutritionist. Further specialist assessments are required in relation to the conditions and needs of the individual patient and can include various in-depth examinations: pre-operative anaesthesiological, psycho-oncological, odontostomatological, gastroenterological or general surgical visits. To these professionals is added the important assistance role of the General Practitioner.
The ultimate goal of the PDTA is to ensure that all patients with head and neck cancer have a personalized therapeutic approach and targeted which, on the one hand, takes into account the “biological” characteristics of the disease and, on the other, the needs of the individual patient. All in order to obtain the best quality of life for the individual.
“Thanks to all colleagues, – comments the prof. Stefano Pelucchi, Director of the ORL Operating Unit of the University Hospital of Ferrara – the personnel of the Sub-Fund and the AcQuaRI Corporate team without whom this important result would not have been possible. I believe that this new PDTA, which derives from years of interdisciplinary collaboration, could be the right answer to the demand for personalized assistance from cancer patients in this district”.
Carcinoma of the head and neck region represents – in males and females – approximately 3% and 1% of tumors respectively and the risk of developing these pathologies is on average higher in men.
The head and neck area is home to neoplasms which can originate from various anatomical sites (tongue, mouth, oropharynx, nasopharynx, hypopharynx, pharynx, larynx, salivary glands) and which generally derive from the squamous epithelium (except the salivary gland tumors). The major risk factors found in patients affected by these pathologies are smoking and alcohol.