Head & neck cancer
11 articles shown
You Don't Have to Get Through This Alone — Emotional Care and Support Groups for Head and Neck Cancer Patients and Their Families
Head and neck cancer affects functions tied to everyday life, like speaking and eating, which can take a heavy toll on your emotional well-being. Rather than coping alone, this article walks through how to make use of oncology (psycho-oncology) counseling, patient support groups, and family support programs, and how to get help through your hospital's social work team or a regional cancer center or public health center.
When Food Tastes Different: Learning to Enjoy Eating Again After Head and Neck Cancer Treatment
Changes in taste after head and neck cancer treatment are common. Lean on texture and temperature instead of flavor, switch to plastic or wooden utensils for a metallic taste, try mild-tasting proteins, and use a touch of sourness to wake up your appetite. The key is to eat "often" rather than "a lot" so you hold onto your weight. Taste usually returns with time, so don't blame yourself: eat what you can. But if you have trouble swallowing or are losing weight quickly, see your care team or a dietitian.
Treatment's Over for Head and Neck Cancer — Now Comes the Nervous Part: A Guide to Follow-Up Intervals and Signs of Recurrence
After head and neck cancer treatment, follow-up visits are packed close together in the first one to two years, when recurrence is most likely, and gradually spread out over time. Each visit usually combines a physical exam, imaging, and thyroid hormone blood tests. If you notice warning signs — a new lump in the neck, a hoarse voice lasting more than two weeks, pain in one ear, trouble swallowing, or a mouth sore that won't heal — you should move your appointment up. Quitting smoking, cutting back on alcohol, and good oral care all sharply lower the risk of recurrence.
From Losing Your Voice to Speaking Again — A Story of Voice Rehabilitation After Total Laryngectomy
After a total laryngectomy the vocal cords are gone, so you can no longer make sound the old way. But you can learn to speak again through paths like esophageal speech, tracheoesophageal puncture, or an electrolarynx (artificial larynx). This piece walks calmly through the practical side of a changed daily life: tips for adjusting to the electrolarynx, the emotional withdrawal that can stall rehab and how support groups help, and managing the new airway opening.
Radiation-Induced Oral Mucositis: How to Ease the Pain and Protect Your Mouth in Daily Life
Practical, everyday strategies to ease the pain of oral mucositis, a common side effect during head and neck radiation therapy, and to protect your mouth. Covers avoiding irritating foods, keeping the mouth clean with a soft toothbrush and a salt-and-baking-soda rinse, not toughing out pain or dry mouth but talking to your care team to manage them, and staying on top of nutrition and hydration.
When Your Mouth Goes Bone-Dry: Small Ways to Make the Day Easier
How to handle dry mouth (xerostomia), a common problem after head and neck treatment, in everyday life. Practical, day-to-day tips: keeping your mouth moist with frequent sips of water, leaning on broths and sugar-free gum, using a humidifier and artificial saliva at night, a soft toothbrush plus fluoride and dental check-ups, and cutting back on alcohol, tobacco, and caffeine.
When Radiation Makes Swallowing Hard: Protecting Your Meals and Nutrition
A practical eating guide for when swallowing becomes difficult during head and neck radiation therapy: adjusting food texture, temperature, and seasoning, and packing protein and calories into small portions to hold your weight. If you go too long unable to eat, don't tough it out alone-talk to your care team about ways to supplement your nutrition.
Why does the same throat cancer heal well for one person but not another - the story of HPV-positive and HPV-negative oropharyngeal cancer
The course of oropharyngeal cancer differs greatly depending on whether HPV is involved. Even at the same stage, HPV-positive cases generally show better treatment response and survival, which is why staging is now classified separately for the two. Still, heavy long-term smoking erodes that advantage, and even HPV-negative cancers can have good outcomes when caught and treated early. The key is to confirm your tumor's HPV status and risk factors with your doctor.
Head and Neck Cancer: Where Exactly Does It Start? — From the Mouth to the Throat
Head and neck cancer is an umbrella term for cancers that arise in the various areas between the head and neck, such as the mouth, the pharynx (behind the nose, mouth, and throat), and the larynx. The first warning sign differs depending on where it develops: the mouth tends to show ulcers that won't heal, the larynx a hoarse voice, and the pharynx pain when swallowing or a lump in the neck. Beyond alcohol and tobacco, HPV-related cases are also on the rise, so it's wise to have a mouth sore, hoarseness, or a neck lump that lasts more than two weeks checked by a doctor.
When Something Feels Off in Your Throat or Mouth: How a Head and Neck Cancer Workup Unfolds
When a voice change, a lump in the neck, or a mouth sore that won't heal raises concern for head and neck cancer, the workup tends to follow a set order: a laryngoscope looks inside, a biopsy confirms whether it's cancer, and then CT, MRI, or PET-CT maps how far it has spread so the stage and treatment plan can be decided. Here's a plain-spoken walk-through of the back-and-forth between appointments and a few things worth knowing before each test.
Does adding cisplatin to radiation after salivary gland surgery actually help? The question one study put to the test
A plain-language look at a study that found no survival benefit from adding the chemotherapy drug cisplatin to post-surgical radiation in parotid salivary gland cancer. It explains why the standard used for other head and neck cancers cannot simply be copied over to salivary gland cancer.