You need, as Gary says, a comprehensive cancer center, which takes a multidisciplinary approach to each case, bringing the expertise from a variety of specialties to each treatment plan. That's particularly important for head and neck cancers, which can affect so many critical functions (eating, breathing, talking, etc.).

Several well-regarded head and neck cancer centers are not far from you -- VCU (right in Richmond) and UVa in Charlottesville. And you're just over two hours away from Johns Hopkins , which US News ranks as #3 in the country for cancer and #1 for ENT.

Get on the phone to one of them.

-- Leslie

Leslie

April 2006: Husband dx by dentist with leukoplakia on tongue. Oral surgeon's biopsy 4/28/06: Moderate dysplasia; pathology report warned of possible "skip effect." ENT's excisional biopsy (got it all) 5/31/06: SCC in situ/small bit superficially invasive. Early detection saves lives.