Aylward A, Park J, Abdelaziz S, et al. - In the present study, the researchers sought to generate a risk prediction model for the development of dysphagia and related diagnoses in long-term head and neck cancer (HNC; a ninth leading cause of new cancer diagnoses among men in the United States) survivors. They determined the hazard ratio for dysphagia, aspiration pneumonia, or gastrostomy associated with various risk factors from a population-based cohort of 1,901 Utah residents with HNC and ≥ 3 years follow-up. Increased risk of long-term dysphagia was correlated with cancer site in the hypopharynx, advanced tumor classification, chemoradiation, preexisting dysphagia, stroke, dementia, esophagitis, esophageal spasm, esophageal stricture, gastroesophageal reflux, thrush, or COPD. The final prediction tool offers personalized risk calculation based on 18 factors for the diagnosis of dysphagia, aspiration pneumonia, or gastrostomy tube placement at 5, 10, and 15 years after HNC. In order to identify HNC survivors most at risk for dysphagia, a clinically useful risk prediction tool was developed.