Hi Guys. I have found myself in the midst of a recurrence and I, along with my doctors, are in the process of trying to formulate a treatment plan. I would appreciate any constructive comments or suggestions that may help me think of things I may not have considered or been aware of. In any case, the bad news: I have local recurrent disease with a 2cm tumor at the base of my tongue just above the larnyx. This was confirmed via biopsy last week. No metastasis have been noted and a chest xray shows my lungs to be clear. The location of the tumor deep in the base of the tongue is part of what makes this so problematic. The surgical salvage protocol calls for the complete removal of both the tongue and the larnyx. Besides the extremely debilitating nature of this surgery, it only offers a two year survival rate of 12%. I'm not a fan of this solution. I met with my radiation oncologist yesterday and he was not a fan of re-irradiation either with or without chemo. His primary concern was that the cancer already survived chemo and radiation and what we would have left would be the most robust cancer cells of the lot. This along with the potential side effects of re-irradiation cause him great concern, although he said he would do it if I decided I wanted it. He thought the best chance of success was surgery followed by radiation, which takes us back to total debilitation and only 1 chance 10 for two years. I meet with my medical oncologist tomarrow and my surgeon again on Friday. The feeling I'm getting from my medical team is that the situation is very grim without much hope. I know I am too close to the problem to be thinking completely clearly. I would appreciate any suggestions, esspecially if they involve a newer approach to treatment. Thanks!