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Breakthroughs in Financial Toxicity and AI for Head and Neck Cancer
Two teams of investigators who are transforming patient care with support from ROI recently presented results at the 2024 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancers Symposium.
Steps Toward Predicting Hospitalization During Chemoradiotherapy
See the latest results of a collaboration between ROI award winners Drs. Julian Hong and Nitin Ohri to develop a machine learning model that uses daily step counts to identify patients at high risk of unplanned hospitalization during chemoradiotherapy in a new JAMA Oncology article.
Recognize Remarkable RadOnc Research
Nominate an early career investigator who is accelerating bold and innovative ideas in radiation therapy for the 2024 ROI Publication Excellence Awards. Winners will receive $1,500 each and be honored at the ASTRO Annual Meeting.
Accelerate Innovations: Join the President’s Circle
As a charity, the amazing work of ROI is driven by donations from people who believe in the power of radiation therapy. Become a member of the President’s Circle with your donation of $1,500 each year, and you’ll join a group of esteemed donors and receive awesome benefits during the ASTRO Annual Meeting.
Celebrate National Cancer Research Month with ROI
Join us in May to celebrate cancer research that is making a difference! Throughout the month, ROI will be recognizing the passionate investigators that have received ROI funding to help people living with cancer live longer, healthier lives.
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Breakthroughs in Financial Toxicity and AI for Head and Neck Cancer

Treatment for head and neck cancer presents many challenges because the complex regimens often have side effects that significantly impact patients’ quality of life. Two teams of ROI-funded investigators are tackling different aspects of how to best manage the toxicities resulting from treatment and shared recent outcomes of their work at the 2024 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancers Symposium.     

Pooja Karukonda, MD, presented longitudinal results of the Patient-Reported Outcomes and Financial Toxicity in Head and Neck Cancer (PaRTNer) study during the Plenary II session on Friday, March 1. This prospective survey-based study showed that patients receiving radiation therapy (RT) for head and neck cancer experienced financial toxicity—problems with the cost of their medical care—as they began treatment. Financial toxicity gradually improved after RT ended, although some patients continued to experience hardship six months post-treatment. Older, non-white, female and low-income patients had the greatest risk of financial toxicity. Patients reported that they decreased spending on basics or leisure activities, used savings, borrowed money, skipped medication doses or did not fill prescriptions to cope with the costs of their cancer care. The PaRTNer study was the first to collect actual out-of-pocket cost data for patients receiving RT, and the team has generated valuable evidence of financial toxicity as both an acute and late treatment-related toxicity for head and neck cancer.  

Dr. Karukonda was awarded a travel grant based on the high quality of the abstract, and she was featured in a video about the study in the ASCO Post. The study led by Fumiko Chino, MD and Yvonne Mowery, MD, PhD, was supported by a 2018 Innovative Projects in Radiation Oncology research award from ROI.  

Simeng Zhu, MD, presented initial results of an imaging-based artificial intelligence model to predict the risk of recurrence of oropharyngeal cancer (OPC) after patients have been treated with radiation therapy. The AI model uses pre-treatment CT images and other clinical characteristics to identify whether patients are at low or high risk of the cancer returning to the same location or nearby. Although the model requires additional development and testing, eventually it could be used to personalize care for OPC. Patients at low risk for recurrence could receive less intense treatment to reduce side effects, while treatment could be increased for patients at high risk to help prevent the cancer from returning. Dr. Zhu received a 2022 Leveraging Artificial Intelligence for Radiation Oncology award from ROI to develop the model.

People living with head and neck cancer have an especially high burden of both physical and financial toxicities from both the disease and treatment, and these two investigative teams are improving cancer care to help these patients live longer, healthier lives.