Understanding Head and Neck Most cancers

From the desk of Beth Battaglino, RN, CEO, HealthyWomen

Head and neck most cancers is a catch-all time period that features cancers of the lips, mouth, voice field, throat and salivary glands. When caught early, these cancers have an excellent prognosis, with five-year survival charges of 70% to 90% with remedy. Sadly, most instances aren’t recognized till they’ve reached a later stage, making remedy a lot much less efficient.

It’s possible you’ll surprise, if remedy works so properly for early-stage head and neck most cancers, why aren’t extra folks recognized earlier than their most cancers advances?

HealthyWomen’s new schooling program explores what’s stopping folks from getting care sooner. We all know racial and socioeconomic disparities could be a barrier. We additionally know that the Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in folks skipping preventive care and routine screenings. What’s extra, head and neck most cancers brought on by HPV might carry stigmas that make folks much less more likely to convey up signs with their healthcare suppliers.

And, as a result of head and neck most cancers consists of a number of kinds of most cancers, signs of those cancers are many and diverse. A number of the commonest ones, resembling a continual sore throat or hoarse voice, might be mistaken for an indication of one thing else, like a chilly.

As Lisa Reed advised HealthyWomen, “I knew there was one thing extra to the lump I felt in my throat. But it surely nonetheless took 2 1/2 months in 2007 and a number of other visits to an ear, nostril and throat specialist (ENT) to persuade her to look more durable and deeper at my signs. Ultimately, the ENT did an endoscopy and located a finger-like development behind my throat. After a biopsy the subsequent morning, I heard the dreaded information: It was most cancers.”

Whereas receiving a head and neck most cancers prognosis is overwhelming, what you or a beloved one does subsequent is important. Dr. Eleni Rettig, a head and neck surgeon at Brigham and Girls’s Hospital and Dana-Farber Most cancers Institute at Harvard Medical Faculty, shares the questions you need to ask your healthcare supplier. We additionally aid you perceive your threat elements and the several types of head and neck cancers — and we provide recommendation on signs, early screenings and remedy choices.

For Susan Decker McLaughlin, it began with a swollen lymph node, a small painless bump on the left facet underneath her jawbone and again molars. After receiving her prognosis, she defined, “I used to be scared and shocked: I might by no means heard of salivary most cancers earlier than, and there was no recognized trigger.”

Susan added, “This journey has taught me that I can not be afraid to talk up when one thing would not really feel proper. Docs may know extra about medical situations, however they do not know your physique higher than you do. Should you’re not feeling properly, belief your self — after which struggle as arduous as you may to get the care you deserve.”

My biggest hope is that you just take this necessary recommendation, and like Susan, change into your personal greatest advocate.

In good well being,
Beth Battaglino

This useful resource was created with assist from Merck.