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BACKGROUND:
Delay of systemic treatment in recurrent/metastatic head and neck squamous cell cancer (r/mHNSCC) has never been assessed. Whether time span to start systemic treatment affects survival and whether referral to a medical oncologist is important has not been explored.

METHODS:
We analyzed our head and neck database to assess the prognostic impact of time between diagnosis of r/mHNSCC and start of systemic treatment (time to treatment [TTT]). Secondarily, we assessed the prognostic impact of time to referral to a medical oncologist (referral time). For this purpose, we used pairwise correlation analysis and multivariate Cox regression analysis as statistical tests.

RESULTS:
A total of 110 patients with r/mHNSCC were evaluable for analysis. TTT correlated significantly with OS from r/mHNSCC diagnosis ( R = .43, p < .0001). A nonsignificant, positive correlation was found between referral time and OS ( R = .17, p = .10).

CONCLUSIONS:
Results of this retrospective analysis suggest that longer TTT is not associated with worse prognosis. Referral time seems not to have an impact on prognosis.