Abstract
The Japan Society for Head and Neck Surgery established a board certification system for head and neck surgeons. However, the actual situation of board-certified facilities for head and neck cancer （HNC） has never been reported. We investigated the current status of treatment for HNC patients at certified facilities and compared it with that at non-certified facilities by using data from a nationwide cancer registry in Japan. We analyzed the data of 94,006 patients with HNC who were diagnosed between 2012 and 2015 at 705 facilities in Japan, and the prognostic data of HNC patients who were diagnosed between 2009 and 2013 as recorded in the hospital-based cancer registries.
A total of 59,789 patients （63.6％） underwent treatment at the board-certified facilities, where younger or more advanced patients were likely to be treated. The treatment guidelines were followed more strictly there. The survival rate of all HNC patients treated in the board-certified facilities was significantly higher than that in the non-certified facilities. Difficult cases and/or cases with a variety of treatment options tended to choose treatment in certified facilities. This study revealed that the board certification system for HNC gradually accomplished its purpose of boosting the quality of patient care in Japan.
