Oral Cancer : In Depth - Deciding on T...
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Researchers always look for new oral cancer treatments. In fact, people who get oral cancer now have more hope for survival than ever before. In this section, we will explain the different treatments available to you and how each one works.
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At first, the information you receive about treatment options may seem overwhelming. You may ease the stress by allowing yourself the time to gather as much information as possible about your disease and its treatment and to discuss the issues with your doctors, nurses, and loved ones.
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There are several ways to treat oral cancer. These are listed in order of which is done most often.
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Your health care team will explain your options and can answer your questions. They'll work with you during all stages of your treatment. Members of your health care team may include:
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A tracheostomy (tray-kee-AHS-toe-mee) gives you a new pathway for air to go into and out of your lungs. To create this pathway, you need surgery to make a small opening in your neck. A tracheostomy tube (also called a "trach tube”) is then placed into this opening. Air flows into and out of your lungs through the tube.
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If your surgeon has given you a new airway during surgery, it may be in place only a short time while you heal. Or, if your larynx has been removed, you'll continue breathing through this new airway. In either case, your health care team will help you adjust.
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The goal of surgery is to remove the tumor from your mouth. When you have surgery for oral cancer, the doctor will try to remove the tumor without harming your appearance or how your mouth functions. In some cases, your doctor may need to rebuild parts of your mouth with reconstructive surgery. This may be done during the surgery to remove the tumor. Or it may be done separately.
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Most people with oral cancer have surgery to remove the tumor. You have to be healthy enough to have surgery for it to be a good option for you. If you have heart disease, your surgeon may ask your heart doctor for advice before your surgery. Most tumors in the oral cavity can be removed with surgery. Some types of tumors are not operable, meaning they can't be removed by surgery.
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Most tumors in the oral cavity can be removed with surgery. If you have a large tumor in your mouth, you may have other treatment before surgery. That treatment may be chemotherapy alone, or in addition to radiation therapy. The goal of these other treatments is to help shrink the tumor and make it easier to remove. The pre-surgery treatments will happen a few weeks before surgery. Receiving another type of treatment before surgery is called neoadjuvant therapy.
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After surgery, you may have to stay in the hospital for a few days. How long you stay in the hospital depends on how much of your oral cavity was removed. Once you've left the hospital, you'll probably still need some special care as you recover from the surgery.
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Radiation treatment is also called radiotherapy. It uses radiation to kill cancer cells. Radiation is a local treatment. That means it affects the cancer cells only in the area treated. Radiation may also be used to relieve symptoms caused by tumors, such as difficulty eating or breathing. The radiation you get and how often you get it depends on the size and location of the tumor.
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Your doctor may recommend radiation therapy for you in any of the following situations.
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External beam radiation therapy is the most common type of radiation given for oral cancer. Radiation is usually directed at the tumor site. You may also receive radiation to your neck. This type of radiation may come from a machine called a linear accelerator.
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Brachytherapy is also called internal radiation. Brachytherapy usually comes from an implant placed in or near the cancerous area. The radiation material may be in flexible tubes called catheters or metal rods.
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Because radiation affects normal cells as well as cancer cells, you will have some side effects from this treatment. Usually, the risk of side effects is far less than the benefit of killing cancer cells. The side effects of radiation relate to the dose of radiation you get and the area of your cancer.
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Chemotherapy uses drugs to kill cancer cells. This treatment can help cure oral cancer when used in combination with other treatments. That means the tumor disappears and does not return. Chemotherapy may keep large tumors from spreading. It may ease symptoms of advanced cancer when the cancer has spread. And it can improve your quality of life. Chemotherapy is a systemic therapy. That means the drugs may kill cancer cells throughout the body. These drugs kill all cells that rapidly divide. That means in addition to killing cancer cells, the drugs may also kill healthy cells.
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Your doctor may suggest chemotherapy to treat oral cancer in any of these situations.
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Most people with cancer have chemotherapy in an outpatient part of the hospital, at the doctor's office, or at home. However, depending on the drugs you take and your general health, you may need to stay in the hospital during treatment. You may receive these drugs by an intravenous line (IV) or in a pill form, or in a combination of the two.
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Because chemotherapy drugs kill all fast-growing cells, they kill healthy cells as well as cancer cells. This means you may have side effects. What those side effects are varies based on which drugs you take. Ask your oncologist and chemotherapy nurse for the details on the side effects that might occur in you. Side effects of chemotherapy are different for everyone.
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