Nurse Navigation on Time to Postoperative Radiation Therapy after Transoral Robotic Surgery for…

Cohort studyOtolaryngology--head and neck surgery : official journal of American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery· Jul 2026

Nurse Navigation on Time to Postoperative Radiation Therapy after Transoral Robotic Surgery for Oropharyngeal Carcinoma.

Vera Bzhilyanskaya, Jane Y Tong, Theresa Vetter-Habighorst … Kyle M Hatten

Read paper

Robotic & Minimally Invasive SurgeryCohort studyClinical practiceQ4IF 0.0

Nurse navigation is associated with 93% of patients completing adjuvant treatment within 100 days.

Nurse Navigation on Time to Postoperative Radiation Therapy after Transoral Robotic Surgery for Oropharyngeal Carcinoma.

Vera Bzhilyanskaya … Kyle M Hatten

Otolaryngology--head and neck surgery · Jul 2026 · Q4 in Surgery

Background

Postoperative radiation therapy (postoperative radiation therapy) initiation within 6 weeks of surgery is associated with improved oncologic outcomes in head and neck cancer, but delays remain common.

Purpose

This study evaluates time to postoperative radiation therapy following transoral robotic surgery (transoral robotic surgery) for HPV-associated oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma) after oncology nurse navigators implementation.

Methods

Academic tertiary care center.

Results

more patients completed their follow-up cancer treatment within 100 days of surgery

More results

Median age was 60 years and 85.9% were male.

57.6% were treated after oncology nurse navigators implementation.

Most received postoperative radiation therapy within our integrated academic health system (75.8%).

More results

Among proton beam therapy-treated patients, postoperative radiation therapy initiation within 6 weeks increased from 6.7% to 38.3% (P = .02).

“

Conclusion

Oncology nurse navigators implementation is associated with earlier postoperative radiation therapy initiation and shorter treatment package time following transoral robotic surgery for HPV-associated oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma, with the greatest improvement observed among patients receiving proton beam therapy, chemoradiation therapy, and those treated within the integrated academic health system.

Nurse Navigation on Time to Postoperative Radiation Therapy after Transoral Robotic Surgery for Oropharyngeal Carcinoma.

Nurse Navigation on Time to Postoperative Radiation Therapy after Transoral Robotic Surgery for Oropharyngeal Carcinoma.

Related papers