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Trends in Surgical Research in Head and Neck Cancer

  • Head and Neck Cancer (L Licitra, Section Editor)
  • Published:
Current Treatment Options in Oncology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Opinion statement

The task of surgical research is to improve the efficacy of available surgical therapeutic modalities, develop new ones, and balance this well with favorable functional outcome. Therefore, surgical research is composed of a translational and a clinical component. In translational surgical research, animal models are used to better understand the biology of head and neck cancers, but even more importantly, the biology of changes to the disease and the microenvironment created by surgical interventions. Animal models additionally allow for the development of image-guided surgery systems, novel strategies of intraoperative adjuvant treatment, and patient “avatars” to test innovative anticancer drug combinations. In clinical surgical research, surgical techniques are validated in clinical trials for effectiveness of tumor control and improvement of functional recovery of the patient. In conclusion, surgical research for head and neck cancer is an active field spanning across the entire breadth of basic and clinical science devoted to a better understanding of what surgery does to the disease and to the patient.

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References and Recommended Reading

Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: • Of importance •• Of major importance

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Acknowledgments

We thank the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF 310030L_144267 and 310030_152875) for the financial support.

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  1. Service d’Oto-rhino-laryngologie – Chirurgie cervico-faciale, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV), Université de Lausanne (UNIL), Rue du Bugnon 21, 1011, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Genrich Tolstonog MD, PhD & Christian Simon MD

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Tolstonog, G., Simon, C. Trends in Surgical Research in Head and Neck Cancer. Curr. Treat. Options in Oncol. 18, 38 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11864-017-0475-z

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