Description
A persistent lump in the neck. A sore in the mouth that won’t heal. Ongoing hoarseness or difficulty swallowing. These symptoms may seem minor, but they could be warning signs of head and neck cancer.
In this video, Dr. Emre Vural, head and neck cancer surgeon at UAMS Health, discusses the most common signs and symptoms of head and neck cancer, as well as important risk factors such as tobacco and alcohol use.
Dr. Vural also explains how advances in transoral robotic surgery (TORS) are allowing surgeons to treat certain throat cancers through the mouth without large external incisions. For some patients, this minimally invasive approach may reduce recovery time and lessen the need for additional treatments.
Learn why early detection matters and how innovative treatment options are helping improve outcomes for patients with head and neck cancer.
Video Player
Transcript
A big part of my practice is oropharyngeal cancer treatment, which includes transoral robotic surgery. Most of the patients I treat with robotic surgery usually have a small tumor somewhere in the throat, most often in the base of the tongue or tonsil area, along with a relatively larger neck mass. Robotic surgery gives us the ability to reach areas that aren’t easily accessible through the mouth without making a large jaw or lip incision.
During this treatment, we clean out the lymph nodes on the involved side and clip a couple of vessels to prevent significant bleeding during resection of the tumor in the throat. We let the cavity heal on its own. We wake the patient up with a feeding tube, just in case they can’t swallow right away, but most of our patients manage to swallow the very next day, and we typically discharge them after two nights. The most rewarding part of this is that for a lot of patients, this treatment doesn’t necessitate additional treatments like radiation or chemotherapy.
The most common signs and symptoms patients should be aware of regarding head and neck cancer are non-healing ulcers or lesions inside the mouth, lips, cheek, palate, throat, or tonsil, and a growing or persistent lump in the neck. These are probably the two most common signs and symptoms we see in our patients. Hoarseness that doesn’t go away can also be a sign of laryngeal cancer, which is cancer of the voice box, and swallowing difficulties also point toward a possible disorder in the swallowing apparatus, meaning the throat and the esophagus.
The risk factors for developing head and neck cancer are tobacco consumption, either smoking or dipping, and alcohol consumption.
