Ototoxicity is among the adverse events related to cancer treatment that can have far-reaching consequences and negative impacts on quality-of-life for cancer patients and survivors of all ages. Ototoxicity management (OtoM) comprises the prevention, diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment, including rehabilitation and therapeutic intervention, of individuals who experience hearing loss, tinnitus, or balance/vestibular difficulties following exposures to ototoxic agents, including platinum chemotherapy (cisplatin, carboplatin) and cranial radiation. Despite the well-established physical, socioeconomic, and psychological consequences of hearing and balance dysfunction, there are no widely adopted standards for clinical management of cancer treatment-related ototoxicity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Platinum-based chemotherapies used to treat many types of cancers are ototoxic. Ototoxicity management (OtoM) to mitigate the ototoxic outcomes of cancer survivors is recommended practice yet it is not a standard part of oncologic care. Although more than 10,000 patients each year are treated with platinum-based chemotherapies at the US Veterans Health Administration (VA), the current state of OtoM in VA is not well-defined.
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