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What to Expect With a High Risk of Head and Neck Cancer Recurrence
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Patients who have a higher risk of head and neck cancer recurrence can expect more — and sooner — monitoring of their disease.
A mouthwash-based test could lend insight into which patients with head and neck cancer have a higher risk of experiencing disease recurrence, according to research published in JAMA Otolaryngology — Head & Neck Surgery.
The study included 160 patients with oral or oropharyngeal tumors who used the oral rinse for up to 18 months after their first cancer treatment. The mouthwash tested for CD44 — a protein associated with cancer — and total protein levels. Findings showed that patients with higher levels of CD44 or total protein had a higher risk of disease recurrence than those with lower levels.
In a recent interview, study author Dr. Elizabeth J. Franzmann acknowledged that patients being told that they have an increased risk for recurrence could make patients feel stress and anxiety. Franzmann, who is a professor of otolaryngology and director of Head and Neck Research at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine in Florida, discussed what patients can expect after learning that they have an increased risk of head and neck cancer recurrence.
Transcript
So there are things that can be done. For example, we may order a PET, CT scan or other imaging earlier, rather than later.
We might take them back for what we call a panendoscopy (thin, tube-like instrument to examine the nose and throat) and biopsy, which is a look [at the anatomy of cancer]. Especially for the oropharyngeal cancers, those can be hard to see in the office because of the gag reflex …and almost everybody has a gag reflex, and that's a normal thing, but it does make it hard to get a really good exam in the office. So we can take them back under general anesthesia and get a look with our special equipment that will allow us to get into the nooks and crannies of the oropharynx to be able to look for disease.
But you wouldn't want to put a person under general anesthesia unless you had a good reason to do that.
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