PRIMARY OBJECTIVE:~I. Using study questionnaires to determine the impact of intensive symptom evaluation with supportive care as needed per treating physician's discretion versus standard symptom management on time to first acute care visits at 3 months.~SECONDARY OBJECTIVES:~I. Using study questionnaires to determine the impact of intensive symptom evaluation with supportive care as needed per treating physician's discretion versus standard symptom management on (1) changes in health-related quality of life (HRQOL), financial burden, and caregiver burden from baseline, (2) time to first acute care visits at 1 or 6 month, (3) locoregional (LRF) and distant failure (DF), and (4) progression-free (PFS) and overall survival (OS) outcomes.~II. Using study questionnaires to determine the impact of intensive symptom evaluation with supportive care as needed per treating physician's discretion versus standard symptom management when stratified.~OUTLINE: Patients are randomized to 1 of 2 groups.~GROUP A: Patients complete a quality of life questionnaires over 10-15 minutes twice weekly (BIW) during standard of care radiation therapy and once weekly (QW) for the first month after completing standard of care radiation therapy course, and then once monthly for 6 months.~GROUP B: Patients receive standard symptom management QW during standard of care radiation therapy and at 1, 3, and 6 months after completing radiation therapy course.
This clinical trial compares intensive symptom evaluation with supportive care to standard symptom management in patients with head and neck cancer that has not spread to other places in the body (non-metastatic). Standard symptom management involves symptom management during and after radiation therapy, using problem-focused history and physical examination followed by appropriate symptomatic management as appropriate per treating physician's discretion. Intensive symptom management with monitoring patient reported outcomes is performed among patients with metastatic cancers receiving systemic therapies and with various cancers receiving radiation therapy. This trial may help researchers determine the impact of intensive symptom surveillance in patients with non-metastatic head and neck cancers.