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The purpose of this observational study was to assess the impact of COVID-19 on the presentation, stage and management pattern on newly presented HNC patients during the pandemic era. The data on all newly diagnosed HNC patients at our centre during April-December 2020 (COVID-19 cohort) were collected, and it was compared against the baseline pre-COVID-19 cohort (all new HNC patients diagnosed between April and December 2019). During the COVID-19 pandemic, it was postulated that there might be a delay in cancer patients' presentation, stage migration and changes in management leading to excess cancer mortality.1 However, there is a paucity of real-time objective data to support this, particularly in HNC. [Extracted from the article]

This article presents the findings of a study on the use of reactive nasogastric tube (NGT) feeding in patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) undergoing radiotherapy. The study found that most patients admitted for NGT feeding were receiving curative radiotherapy. The timing of NGT insertion varied, and the study suggests that streamlining access to NGT feeding could reduce hospital stays. The article also discusses the cost implications of NGT feeding and suggests that an outpatient NGT feeding service could be beneficial in initiating earlier enteral feeding and avoiding hospital admissions. [Extracted from the article]