Head and Neck

The Head and Neck Cancer Program is truly an interdisciplinary program. It includes evaluation, assessment, recommendation of treatment whether surgical, combined surgery and radiation, or combined surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy, for all stages of disease from the earliest to the most advanced and including recurrent disease. In addition to surgical resection, a great emphasis is placed on reconstruction and returning the patient as best as possible to their pre-existing status. The interdisciplinary team includes head and neck surgeons, medical oncologists, radiation therapists, oral surgeons, experts in swallowing and voice rehabilitation, prosthodontics, social services, and nursing.

The most common tumor sites to be evaluated and treated by this team include malignancies of the larynx, pharynx, tongue, floor of mouth, parotid, sinuses, and nasopharynx. Approximately 180 new cancer patients are seen each year by the team and are presented in the interdisciplinary conference followed by discussion and a consensus recommendation on treatment. Over 1,300 follow-up visits on patients are performed each year. A strong support group exists with members meeting approximately once per month.

More importantly, the University of Minnesota participates in national (Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group – ECOG) and National Cancer Institute (NCI) studies and its members are active in the ECOG as participants in prospective randomized and nonrandomized studies. In addition to national studies, prospective randomized and nonrandomized studies exist within the interdisciplinary group, particularly in the use of multimodality therapy in the management of advanced malignancies.

For a list of current clinical trials, visit the Clinical Trials Web page on the Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota Web site, and click on "Head and Neck".