I would have asked him what sort of radiation he had and where -- did he have IMRT which is better targeted and is able to avoid non-target organs and tissues better than the older external beam machines? If not, or if his cancer was in a different area this might account for the problems relative to others who are 4 years out.

Our ENT had radiation for her head cancer 18 years ago with old cobalt machine and other than persistant dry mouth and very reduced taste is doing fine. In fact, her quality of life continues to improve (in part due to new meds to increase salivary function). So radiation itself does not inevitably lead to additional problems.

Gail