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 circumstances aren’t recognized till they’ve reached a later stage, making remedy a lot much less efficient.

Chances are you’ll marvel, if remedy works so effectively for early-stage head and neck most cancers, why aren’t extra individuals recognized earlier than their most cancers advances?

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

And, as a result of head and neck most cancers contains a number of sorts of most cancers, signs of those cancers are many and diverse. A number of the most typical ones, akin to a continual sore throat or hoarse voice, will be mistaken for an indication of one thing else, like a chilly.

As Lisa Reed informed HealthyWomen, “I knew there was one thing extra to the lump I felt in my throat. However it nonetheless took 2 1/2 months in 2007 and several other visits to an ear, nostril and throat specialist (ENT) to persuade her to look tougher 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 crucial. 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 it is best to ask your healthcare supplier. We additionally make it easier to 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 aspect below her jawbone and again molars. After receiving her prognosis, she defined, “I used to be scared and shocked: I would by no means heard of salivary most cancers earlier than, and there was no identified trigger.”

Susan added, “This journey has taught me that I am unable to be afraid to talk up when one thing does not really feel proper. Medical doctors would possibly know extra about medical situations, however they do not know your physique higher than you do. For those who’re not feeling effectively, belief your self — after which struggle as onerous as you’ll be able to to get the care you deserve.”

My best hope is that you just take this necessary recommendation, and like Susan, turn out to be your individual finest advocate.

In good well being,
Beth Battaglino

This useful resource was created with assist from Merck.