Access to Optimal Treatment in Head and Neck Cancer: A Patient Perspective

• Main Author: Chris Curtis
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: SAGE Publishing 2017-01-01
• Series: Medicine Access @ Point of Care
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5301/maapoc.0000014

Introduction Head and neck cancer is a life-changing disease affecting all aspects in the life of a patient; eating, swallowing, talking, and socializing become very hard to deal with and comprehensive support is essential, regardless of the person's gender, age, social status, or background. The aim of this article is to describe the journey of a patient from a clinical and personal perspective, while discussing the importance of timely access to the most appropriate treatment based on outcome and on the patient's quality of life. Case presentation The journey of a head and neck cancer patient is illustrated from his own perspective. The clinical case also highlights a few key issues on medicine access. First, it has been a long time since any new treatment or drugs have been available to treat head and neck cancer patients, although the scenario might change drastically due to the introduction of immunotherapy. Second, it is unusual that even the most caring health care professional would consider a treatment that is not licensed in their country, even if it would have made a significantly positive difference to the patient's quality of life. Conclusions The increasing patient and health care professional's awareness of a solution to their problem with the use of unlicensed treatment, and the decreasing burden linked to identifying and sourcing unlicensed treatment, should help to optimize the management of these patients and significantly impact the outcome and their quality of life.