Current and future directions in the treatment of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck: multidisciplinary symposium on head and neck cancer

The treatment of head and neck cancer continues to represent a major challenge. Patients are typically treated with chemotherapy, radiation and surgery. Multiple resources are needed to allow patients to go through the treatment, and recovery can take months and often years. Those resources include, nutritionists, speech and swallow therapists, social workers, psychiatrists and dentists. It is of paramount importance that these patients have access to a multidisciplinary clinic that can best manage the problems that will invariably arise when treatment is started. These include mucositis, pain, xerostomia, swallowing dysfunction, depression, loss of work and severe deconditioning. Recent advances in the treatment of head and neck cancer have resulted in an improvement in survival. These advances have included the use of newer chemotherapeutic agents, better radiation planning and delivery and better surgical techniques. This report highlights some of the data presented in the first multidisciplinary symposium on head and neck cancer. Special attention is given to the use of newer 'targeted agents' and their incorporation in the definitive therapy with chemotherapy and radiation. Major focus is placed on epidermal growth factor inhibitors and their potential role both in the curative and recurrent settings.