Organ preservation in patients with squamous cancers of the head and neck.

Treatment strategies that have the potential to improve functional organ preservation in patients who have head and neck cancer are emerging. Clinical research in this field, however, has been limited by the lack of standardized, objective criteria of organ function post treatment and by lack of prospective assessment of organ function in treatment trials [56]. Advances in surgical techniques, radiation techniques, radiation protectants, and combined-modality therapies are promising, but well-planned and executed clinical trials are necessary to determine how best to apply these techniques to patient care.