Quality standard
Quality statements
Quality statements
Statement 1 People with cancer of the upper aerodigestive tract have their nutritional status, including the need for a prophylactic tube, assessed at diagnosis.
Statement 2 People with specific advanced stage cancers of the upper aerodigestive tract are offered systemic staging using fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG PET)-CT.
Statement 3 People with early stage oral cavity cancer who do not need cervical access as part of surgical management are offered sentinel lymph node biopsy as an alternative to elective neck dissection.
Statement 4 People with cancer of the upper aerodigestive tract are given the choice of either radiotherapy or surgery if both are suitable options for their type of cancer.
NICE has developed guidance and a quality standard on patient experience in adult NHS services (see the NICE Pathway on patient experience in adult NHS services), which should be considered alongside these quality statements.
Other quality standards that should be considered when commissioning or providing head and neck cancer services include:
A full list of NICE quality standards is available from the quality standards topic library.