Surgery

If the doctor catches head and neck cancer early, he/she may be able to remove the tumor with a smaller margin of normal tissue to eliminate the tumor with minimal functional side effects. For more advanced stages, head and neck cancer may require extensive surgery that affects the structures of the head and neck. However, many newer, minimally invasive surgical techniques and options for better reconstruction allow doctors to remove head and neck tumors with fewer side effects and shorter recovery time. For example, doctors can often remove tumors using an endoscope or small robotic arms, avoiding the need to make an incision.

Radiation Therapy

Radiation therapy uses waves of high-energy rays produced by a machine to destroy cancer cells. Doctors give radiation therapy to eradicate cancer either by itself or combined with surgery. Patients with head and neck cancer should meet with an oncologic dentist before this treatment, as radiation can cause tooth decay and other side effects when administered to the head and neck region. New techniques of radiation therapy can be more focused to treat the tumor and spare more normal, uninvolved tissues. This approach is referred to as Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT).

Proton beam radiation therapy

Proton therapy is an advanced type of radiation therapy that uses “protons” rather than X-ray “photons” to deliver radiation to the tumor. In conventional radiotherapy, the photon beams can deposit radiation and damage healthy cells as they pass through the body. Proton therapy deposits most of the radiation directly at the tumor site, possibly resulting in less damage to healthy tissue and fewer side-effects.

• Please see Understanding Proton Therapy to learn more.

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy is the use of drugs to target rapidly growing cells in an effort to destroy cancer cells. Doctors give chemotherapy to shrink the tumor before other treatments such as radiation or surgery or at times both. In more advanced stages in which the cancer has spread, chemotherapy may be the best treatment option to relieve symptoms and improve survival.

Chemoradiation

Chemoradiation is a combination of chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Combining these two treatments makes both more effective. Doctors give chemoradiation to destroy the tumor thus avoiding surgery in some cases, or to destroy any traces of cancer left after surgery.

Targeted Therapy

Some cases of head and neck cancer contain cells that overexpress the EGFR protein, which causes the cancer to grow more aggressively. Targeted therapy specifically targets these cells, preventing the EGFR proteins from fueling cell growth.

Immunotherapy

New and exciting treatments target the patient's immune system to better fight their tumor. Many cancers decrease the immune function in humans allowing tumors to grow and spread. New drugs block the tumor's ability to decrease the immune function resulting in shrinkage of the tumor or in some cases complete disappearance. Immunotherapy treatments, while having side effects, are usually less than standard chemotherapy.

Clinical Trials

Clinical trials allow patients to try a new treatment before it is available to the general public. In some cases, this may be a new drug that has not been used in humans before, or it may be a drug or drug combination that is not currently used for that specific type of cancer. Early phase clinical trials are often used to test side effects of a drug or drug combination, while later phase clinical trials are used to see how effective a new treatment might be for a certain type of cancer. Clinical trials allow doctors and researchers to improve the treatment of cancers with possibly more effective therapies. A clinical trial may be a new, groundbreaking drug or it may have no effect. It is important to talk with your doctor about the pros and cons of clinical trials for your particular situation.