Who Should Attend?
- Head and Neck Surgeons
- Otolaryngologists
- Plastic Surgeons
- Surgical and Medical Oncologists
- Dentists & Oral Surgeons
- Radiation Oncologists
- Radiologists
- Pathologists
- Residents and Fellows
- Clinical Investigators
- Molecular and Cellular Biologists
- Advance Practice Providers
- Speech and Language Pathologists
- Allied Health Professionals
Learning Objectives
At the conclusion of the activity, participants will be able to:
- Assess and apply therapeutic options for the head and neck, salivary gland, and thyroid cancer patient in a multidisciplinary environment, including:
- Induction chemotherapy and concurrent chemoradiotherapy, and how these treatments impact oncologic and functional outcomes of patient with advanced head and neck cancer;
- Novel radiation delivery, and the benefits and shortcomings of methods such as Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT) with comparison to proton therapy;
- Emerging molecular-targeted agents, and their efficacy and role in the treatment of head and neck cancer, including thyroid cancer.
- Surgical treatments, including the impact of breakthroughs in technology leading to robotic surgery, endoscopic approaches to the neck and thyroid gland, image-guided treatment of skull base neoplasms, sentinel node mapping
- Advances in radiology and imaging will be reviewed: Describe approaches to reduce sampling error in during surgery or pathological assessment of the tumor specimen of pre-operative and post-operative optical imaging technologies
- Review of new reconstructive approaches and compare with conventional strategies tollo compare outcomes and cost. , and new powered instrumentation and hemostatic devices
- Assess emerging research that lead to better understanding of the pathogenesis of head and neck cancer and its treatment, including:
- New breakthroughs for disease detection, pre-treatment staging, and assessment of treatment response.
- High throughput laboratory approaches to analyze tumors and biofluids including whole genome sequencing, cDNA microrrays, array CGH, SNP arrays and integrative genomics.
- The significance of human papilloma virus elements and or antibodies in tumors and biofluids.
- Pre-clinical evaluation of novel therapeutics.
- Early detection of oral pre-malignancy and cancer and chemopreventive approaches.
- Newly discovered biomarkers and their utility in treatment selection.
- In addition, attendees with research careers may also be able to find new collaborators, develop new research protocols (including clinical trials), and participate in and improve existing protocols and trials
- Assess and apply the process, outcomes, and quality of delivering care to head and neck cancer patients, including:
- The value of treatment guidelines including the NCCN treatment guidelines in improving patient care
- How to measure patient-reported outcomes and maximize their utility
- How to establish a surgical quality and performance monitoring program
- How cost-effectiveness is important to consider in considering novel treatments
- The Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) in head and neck cancer care
- Incorporating quality into trainee/medical student education
- The burden of caring for H&N cancer in the developing and international community
- Recognize the vital role of nurses, speech language pathologists, audiologists, nutritionists, social workers, pain specialists, mental health practitioners, physical therapists, dental oncologists in achieving maximal functional outcomes and increase interdisciplinary cooperation.