Interventions to reduce times to diagnosis and treatment of head and neck cancer: A systematic review and narrative synthesis

The article is a systematic review of interventions to reduce diagnostic and treatment intervals for head and neck cancer patients. The review included 37 studies, and four types of interventions were identified: single clinic-based, multidisciplinary clinic-based, hospital or service re-design, and health system re-design. There was some evidence that multidisciplinary interventions improve timeliness of diagnosis and treatment, but evidence of long-term effectiveness was lacking. The study concludes that future interventions should consider the complex and dynamic nature of health systems and adhere to best-practice principles for early-diagnosis research.