Retreatment of Recurrent or Second Primary Head and Neck Cancer After Prior Radiation : Executive Summary of the American Radium Society Appropriate Use Criteria

Retreatment of recurrent or second primary head and neck cancers occurring in a previously irradiated field is complex. Few guidelines exist to support practice. We performed an updated literature search of peer-reviewed journals in a systematic fashion. Search terms, key questions, and associated clinical case variants were formed by panel consensus. The literature search informed the committee during a blinded vote on the appropriateness of treatment options via the modified Delphi method. The final number of citations retained for review was 274. These informed 5 key questions, which focused on patient selection, adjuvant reirradiation, definitive reirradiation, stereotactic body radiation, and reirradiation to treat nonsquamous cancer. Results of the consensus voting are presented along with discussion of the most current

Automated summary

The retreatment of previously irradiated recurring or second primary head and neck cancers is a complex task with few guidelines to support practice. Through literature search and voting, a consensus on treatment options has been reached.