Background: The majority of new oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) cases are associated with human papillomavirus and favorable prognosis. Post-treatment follow-up should be targeted to patients at greatest risk for disease recurrence.
Methods: To assess the benefits of routine clinical surveillance in OPSCC, we reviewed all follow-up visits conducted in 2014 at Helsinki University Hospital Department of Otorhinolaryngology.
Results: Of 366 visits, 26 (7%) were from patients presenting with a new symptom, and disease recurrence was detected in four. The presence of a new symptom was significantly associated with disease recurrence (P < 0.001). Of 366 visits, 340 (93%) were from patients presenting without new symptoms, and not a single recurrence was found during these visits.
Conclusions: Based on our findings, and previous studies assessing the prognosis and pattern of recurrent OPSCC, we concluded that the number of routine post-treatment visits can be reduced. Follow-up should rather focus on symptom-directed examinations.
Keywords: follow-up; human papillomavirus; oropharyngeal cancer; recurrence; squamous cell carcinoma.
© 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.