Dear Colleagues,

It is a matter of immense honour to serve as the president of our esteemed society, the Foundation for Head and Neck Oncology (FHNO). I extend warm greetings and heartfelt gratitude to all members for this opportunity.

At the time when, there were just a few centres providing quality head and neck cancer care and even fewer structured training programs in India; the FHNO was conceived under visionary leadership of our founding president late Dr Ram Mohan Tiwari with an objective of ‘development and advancement of head and neck oncology’ in our country. We all must take pride, that from a humble beginning, today, the FHNO is truly a multi-disciplinary and vibrant society of more than 1200 members. In many ways FHNO is a success story and a lot has been accomplished in a short time, to name a few - FHNO travel awards, FHNO journal, university recognized fellowship, online teaching programs and numerous surgical workshops, cadaver dissection workshops, regional teaching programs. FHNO adapted to needs during COVID crisis by putting out practice guidelines, organizing online CMEs, virtual and a hybrid national conference. FHNO national conference is a “must go-to” event in the annual HN oncology calendar , simply due to its quality content and commitment to science. As we bask under these achievements, we also need to work towards more transparency, agility and engagement to meet the aspirations of our members.

Last two decades have been exciting with a paradigm shift in the field of head and neck oncology. Like reconstructive surgery, skull base surgery, compartment resections for advanced cancer, advances in radiation techniques, newer chemotherapy, organ preservation protocols, speech and swallow therapy and dental rehabilitation. However, the future seems to be even more exhilarating with advances in minimally invasive and robotic surgery, promising outcomes with immunotherapy, integration of information and technology, data science and artificial intelligence in health care. FHNO should become a platform to leverage these opportunities and address new challenges. We need to interact and collaborate to find unique solutions tailored to our country’s specific needs. With collective efforts we will certainly be the global leaders in the field of head and neck oncology.

I urge all members to actively participate in FHNO activities and reach out to us with your suggestions. I look forward to meeting you at FHNO-Mumbai 2024 and FHNO-Bangalore 2025.

With Best Wishes

Dr. Vikram Kekatpure
President , FHNO ( 2024-2025)

From Secretary’s Desk,

It is indeed an honour to serve as FHNO secretary after an eventful successive term as treasurer. It has been 21 years since FHNO was conceived mainly as a surgeon centric organization. Certain important decisions like opening up the organization to all specialities involved with head and neck cancer management propelled FHNO to become one of the largest and vibrant head and neck oncology group around the world. It is gratifying to note that the core principle of commitment to research and education remains intact. FHNO meetings are setting standards for sound academic content and deliberations. FHNO has many landmark achievements such as initiation of travel awards, FHNO Journal, accredited fellowship program, research wing (HNCOG) to name a few. My predecessors deserve credit who have worked behind the scene to accomplish these goals.

Moving forward, we need to strengthen communication among members to share and disseminate knowledge. Communication is key and it can no longer be limited to occasional newsletters or circulars but need to be possibly on daily basis. Social media platforms provide an opportunity which can be leveraged. Many of our members are tech and social media savvy, I invite suggestions to improve interaction. Efforts are on to further streamline online membership application process with integrated payment gateway. Website is also being reworked to make it more dynamic and user friendly. Many of our members are involved in multiple social initiative at individual level, involvement of FHNO in social activities and patient advocacy such as joint tobacco cessation drives, laryngectomee club etc need be strengthened. We intend to enhance interaction with other national and international organizations in order to build a synergy and learn from each other’s experience. No organization can function without resources, we need to actively seek out for donations, named orations and symposium. This will help us to further expand the scope of our activities. FHNO journal is already indexed with scopus and others, we need to support journal by submitting our best research articles to ensure indexing with pubmed soon.

National conferences for 2020 and 2021 will be announced soon,I request each of our members to mark their calendar. Younger colleagues can plan their research accordingly to present data at this national forum in presence of leaders in field.

I invite all members to get actively involved with association activities. Please feel free to contact me any suggestions or concerns.

With regards

Dr. Vikram Kekatpure
Secretary , FHNO ( 2019-2021)

Message from the Chairman Governing Council,

The Foundation for Head and Neck oncology had a humble beginning in 2003 when like- minded individuals interested in Head and Neck oncology joined together to meet at AIIMS New Delhi to fill in a void of a forum to promote academic activities in this field in India. From then the FHNO has been giving leadership in multiple fields including training, clinical and basic sciences research, rehabilitation and preventive oncology in the country. The Foundation has grown encompassing all specialists involved in head and neck cancer care including radiation and medical oncologists and rehabilitation experts apart from the surgical specialists from different training backgrounds.
The FHNO has been accredited as the representative association from India to the International Federation of Head and Neck Oncology Societies (IFHNOS). The FHNO meetings are well attended and known for high standards of academic content. It is a coveted forum where the cream of activity in field at national level is presented. These meetings have been twinned with other international association meetings like the IFHNOS world tour and the Asian society of head and neck oncology meeting. Few notable achievements of the FHNO include having an official journal of our own and streamlining the training programmes in the country by starting a FHNO endorsed fellowship training programme. With the great talent pool available in the country and the new spirit of India aspiring to be showing the way to the world in many fronts, the FHNO representing the largest professional contingent working at present in the field of head and neck oncology in the world, FHNO is poised to become one of the most vibrant organized societies in head and neck oncology.

With regards

Dr. Subramania Iyer
Governing Council - Chairman

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

The Foundation for Head and Neck Oncology has been in the service of cancer patients for more than two decades now. My predecessors have ensured that the forum has been sagaciously used to advance science, improve access to latest evidence, impart training and foster a climate of discussion and healthy debate among its constituents. Their efforts have also brought issues to fore that we now need to confront as a group.

As the largest community of specialists treating head and neck cancer in a geographical area that contributes heavily to its global incidence, it is incumbent upon us to collaborate and generate high quality treatment data that will set the stage for improvements in treatment protocols, prognostication models and staging systems.

Science journeys along on wheels of sound research methodology. Woefully, practical research skills are not adequately ingrained in our training programs. The FHNO fellowship aims to bridge this gap but larger challenges loom, both in terms of magnitude and quality.We now have the whopping responsibility to train the next generation of specialists, not only by imparting surgical and technical skills but more importantly, by guiding them to affix their practice on sound scientific evidence.

It is heartening to see head and neck surgeons adroitly spanning the technology divide and coming abreast of their peers elsewhere in the world. We have seen significant strides in the adoption of microvascular surgery, minimally invasive surgery, robotic approaches and interventions in dental oncology and speech and swallowing therapy to enhance quality of life, but larger issues of cost and appropriate indications for their adoption remain. Head and neck surgeons of today need to be mindful of these challenges in their daily practice.

Cancer is a genetic disease and we need to open up to more knowledge on tumour behaviour, prognosis and response to treatment that would be revealed only by unravelling the genetic cipher. The Head and Neck Cooperative Oncology Group of the FHNO will in the years to come, serve as the nucleus to such efforts and will strive to channelise the interest and efforts of our members to basic science initiatives from our country.

I look forward to your involvement and participation in our activities in substantial measure. Your feedback and criticism are also equally sought. Let us uncover the potential of collective thinking and direct our mission towards the good of the patient with head and neck cancer who seeks us out to share his or her anger, apprehensions, aspirations, achievements and accolades with us. Please do stay in touch

With regards
Dushyant Mandlik
Secretary , FHNO (2024)