Head & neck
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Importance of patient examination to clinical quality assurance in head and neck radiation oncology.
When quality assurance programs in clinical radiation oncology focus mainly on the technical aspects of treatment, they tend to underplay questions of therapeutic process and outcome. We determined the value of clinical peer review in radiation therapy for head and neck cancer that involved head and neck examination. ⋯ Peer review of radiation target localization in RT plans led to changes that could potentially affect rates of cancer control or complication in about 10% of patients. We suggest that the accuracy of head and neck radiation oncology treatment plans might be increased by co-examination by another head and neck cancer specialist, typically a radiation oncologist or head and neck surgeon, to confirm RT target volumes.