Cindy,

Hello...my husband was diagnosed with advanced squamous cell carcinoma, base of tongue in November 2002. We were given two treatment options when we went to the Stanford ENT Tumor Board: surgery to remove the tumor w/ a neck dissection (this option involved reconstruction and speech therapy, etc) the other option was to try a chemo/radiation combination first, in hopes that the tumor would shrink in size and make surgery less difficult. We opted for the chemo/radiation plan. My husband's tumor seems to have responded well to the chemo (scan after chemo and before radiation showed no visible tumor). He just finished his radiation treatments a week ago and we will meet with his ENT next week to see what the next step will be. We are probably looking at a radical neck dissection when Jim has recovered somewhat from the radiation treatment. There are many things to be considered, and every patient is diffferent in response to treatment...I wish you the best.