The role of palliative care in relapsed and metastatic head and neck cancer patients in a single ESMO integrated oncology and palliative care centre.

BACKGROUND

Palliative care (PC) for patients with advanced cancer improves symptom management and quality of life and may promote home deaths. Limited data are available regarding PC in advanced head and neck cancer (HNC) patients. The aim of this study was to describe the type of care and modalities of integration of specialized PC in a population of relapsed and/or metastatic head and neck cancer patients, followed in a single institution over 4 years.

METHODS

Between January 2016 and December 2019, data on patients with relapsed and/or metastatic head and neck cancer not suitable for curative treatment diagnosed at the Oncology Institute of Southern Switzerland were reviewed retrospectively. Site, type and lines of treatment, treatment response, referral to specialist palliative care (yes or no), type of symptoms, tracheostomy and/or feeding-tube presence, and site of death were documented. Comparisons were made between patients benefitting from PC integration vs standard care.

RESULTS

Eighty-six patients with relapsed/metastatic HNC were identified, 63 (73.3%) of whom were referred to specialized PC. Patients were mainly men (66, 76.7%), with a median age of 69 years (range 44-95). The most common site of tumour was the oropharynx (31, 36%), followed by the larynx (21, 24.4%), oral cavity (19, 22.1%), hypopharynx (14, 16.3%), and unknown primary (1, 1.2%). Forty-four patients (51.2%) were treated with systemic treatment. The median time interval between the diagnosis and palliative care referral was 1.7 months. At the time of our analysis, 69 patients had died (58 in the PC group and 11 in the non-PC group). Fifteen patients (25.9%) in the PC group and 4 (36.4%) in the non-PC group had received aggressive treatment (chemotherapy, tracheostomy and/or feeding tube) in the last month of life, with no significant difference between groups (p = 0.44). There was no difference in the incidence of home death (19.1% PC group vs 9.1% non-PC group, p = 0.67) or presence of caregiver (69.8% PC group vs 78.2% non-PC group, p = 0.58) between groups, while palliative care was associated with more opioid use (90.5% vs 17.4%, p < 0.0001). Patients in the PC group had a shorter survival compared to the non-PC group (5.7 vs 19.9 months, p = 0.0063).

CONCLUSIONS

This study shows that patients appear to be at risk of receiving inappropriate invasive treatments close to death and of dying in hospital settings. Further research is needed to investigate how early PC may affect decision-making around treatments and improve HNC patients' holistic wellbeing.