Head and neck cancer is a term used to describe different kinds of cancers that can happen in the head and neck area. These include cancers of the mouth, tongue, gums, lips, voice box, throat, salivary glands, nose, and the spaces around the nose (sinuses).
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Most of the cases of Head and neck cancer in India comes in existence in the form of mouth and oral cancer. Major reasons are:
Tobacco consumption in the form of jarda, guthka, different forms of smokeless tobacco, betel nut with or without paan.
A habit of keeping tobacco quid against check and gums, it leads to cancer of gums, cheeks, and inner cheeks.
Alcohol, Tobacco chewing
Cigarette, bidi and cigar smoking
Exposure to textile fibers
Poor dental and oral hygiene.
The overall focus is to improve patient’s quality of life and preserving functions such as swallowing, speech, taste, and hearing. If these cancers are diagnosed early they are treatable.
Radiation can be added with surgery if other risk factors of cancer are identified.
In very advanced cancer cases when it has spread near the brain or spread to other parts of the body. At this stage quality of life can be improved with palliative radiation therapy with chemotherapy and immunotherapy.
If the surgery becomes an ultimate option for a patient, the whole tumor and the lymph nodes are removed. Depends on the affected area, a wide excision take place in some cases as a rim or segment of the jaw. At Zanish head and neck cancer hospital we are equipped with advanced minimally invasive endoscopic instrumentation laser with a microscope for vocal cord surgery. Dr Nishant Sanghvi is specialist of head and neck cancer doctor in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
Radiation therapy is the entail use of high energy X-ray to kill cancer cells. Source of radiation may be from a machine outside the body (external beam radiotherapy) or radioactive materials inserted into the affective organ.
Many of the cases of H&N cancer demands combination of chemotherapy and radiation. These therapies improve the cure rates and conserve the organ affected by the disease. Combination of these therapies may increase the chance of normal speech and swallow.
On the basis of individual needs and suitability H & N cancer requires chemotherapy and biological therapy. Generally, a combination of drugs is used. The oncologist also decides the therapy plan as per the individual case.