SEOM clinical guidelines for the treatment of head and neck cancer (2020)

Head and neck cancers (HNC) are defined as malignant tumours located in the upper aerodigestive tract and represents 5% of oncologic cases in adults in Spain. More than 90% of these tumours have squamous histology. In an effort to incorporate evidence obtained since 2017 publication, the Spanish Society of Medical Oncology (SEOM) presents an update of the squamous cell HNC diagnosis and treatment guideline. Most relevant diagnostic and therapeutic changes from the last guideline have been updated: introduction of sentinel node biopsy in early oral/oropharyngeal cancer treated with surgery, concomitant radiotherapy with weekly cisplatin 40 mg/m(2) in the adjuvant setting, new approaches for HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer and new treatments with immune-checkpoint inhibitors in recurrent/metastatic disease. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12094-020-02533-1.