Hi Nancy and welcome to the forum. I too am a right tonsil cancer survivor and had advanced staging. I had no surgery - it was deemed to put me at a higher risk because of the extensive aspect of it and they thought that IMRT and Cisplatin would be equally as effective. I had no lymph node involvement. My MO showed me a data sheet that showed me a 5 year survival rate at 38%, however my RO stated 80% - I'll take her numbers! So far so good.

If he is keeping his (highly recommended - unless they and/or the gums are in bad shape) he should be fitted for dental trays as soon as possible for at home floride treatments. I wouldn't let them pull my teeth.

Even being on the fast track it was still almost 2 months from Dx to start of Tx. When he gets to the "watchful waiting" stage (post Tx) they consider 2 months to be within a reasonable window to catch abnormalities before they get out of control.

He is the first I have heard of that is getting 2 different types of radiation. It sounds reasonable but will the side scatter from the XRT undo the benefit of the IMRT? I would ask the RO.

Is he at a CCC?

Gary Allsebrook
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Dx 11/22/02, SCC, 6 x 3 cm Polypoid tumor, rt tonsil, Stage III/IVA, T3N0M0 G1/2
Tx 1/28/03 - 3/19/03, Cisplatin ct x2, IMRT, bilateral, with boost, x35(69.96Gy)
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"You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes" (James 4:14 NIV)