My 38 yo son will be having a biopsy next Saturday, Dec 27th. He lives by himself in Independence, Missouri. His dentist suspects Oral Cancer and has sent him to an Oral Surgeon to have the biopsy taken. His General MD says it would be OK to let the Oral Surgeon perform the biopsy. Should the biopsy prove positive (cancer present) does anybody have any recommendation of who and where he should go to get the best practical medical service. I have heard that the Kansas University Medical Center in Kansas City, Ks has a good reputation. Look forward to hearing from you. Thanks. Rich

There are numerous great head and neck cancer facilities around the country. Please go to the resources page of the main web site, and look for the link to "best hospitals". Not everyone can afford to leave their local area to attend another facility in another state. I was one of the ones that decided that no matter where the best facility was, I was going to go to it, and traveled across country to MD Anderson in Houston TX. 90 days later I left my little furnished apartment that I rented next to the hospital and returned home to recuperate for the better part of a year. What ever you choose to do, you have one opportunity to make the best choice that you can. Weight everything carefully, get lots of opinions from qualified sources, and make the best decision you can. In my own opinion, geographic convenience is not a good reason to pick a facility. Since I am not familiar with the reputation of the center you have mentioned, (in spite of spending my high school years in Missouri) it may or may not be a great choice. But the unbiased list by US News and World on the resources page lists the top 50 in the US. It's a good starting point. My second opinion which I believe is very important, is to be sure that the treatment occurs in a multidisciplinary center, and is not done by a singular doctor, with a singular specialty.