Today I participated in my RO's 2nd Annual Colloquium on H & N Cancers. I did this last year and he asked me back this year. He and a teaching doctor from Moffitt give their presentations and then I get up and spend the next 2 hours giving the patient's perspective which is followed by a Q & A segment. This is done at Moffitt and the attendance is required of the med students so the turnout is a packed auditorium. Last year this presentation format received a student rating of 4.6 out of 5 and I'm sure this years went as well. I really enjoy the opportunity to shape future doctors into my way of thinking. lol
Anyway I was busy taking notes during the docs' speeches and here are a few things that I thought we would find interesting. These are not listed in any order:
1. My Ro is currently writing the research plan to compare the effects of limiting treatment on
HPV+ patients. He's not sure what will be limited, i.e. less radiation or less chemo or less of both, etc but he wants to do the trial. All he will need is willing patients. lol
2. A node larger than 1.5 cm is assumed to be pathologic;
3. 95% of all H & N cancers are SCC;
4. There are over 2 million users of Betel nuts with the overwhelming majority coming from SE Asia and the majority of H & N cancers from India are associated with Betel Nut use. A student reported that you can buy a solution of tobacco and Betel nut juices in Tampa;
5. Cancers of the Oropharyngeal region (BOT and Tonsils) represented only 18% of H & N cancers in 1970; in 2005 that increased to 32% and today Trotti estimates it's over 50% due principally to
HPV;
6.The first H & N cancer patient was treated with radiation in 1902 and he was an attorney. Trotti confessed that doctors even then made mistakes. lol;
By far the most interesting thing I learned and I may post this separately is that sometime this summer Moffitt will have operational a new radiation machine that will SLASH, with a CAPITAL S, the table time for radiation delivery. For example, he told me that where as my radiation sessions took 15 to 20 minutes (without measurements), this new machine will deliver the same fractional dose with as much or greater accuracy and flexibility in appx 1 MINUTE. It will also give the operators a computer scan every day so they can adjust to changes with much more frequency and accuracy eliminating those measurement days. This new machine will be aptly called RAPID RT.
