Can anyone tell me what the side effects of irradiation of the neck are like? Both short term and long term if you know.

I had a scc tumor removed from the right anterior portion of my tongue; on the side of the tongue. The pathology report is completely screwed up. Eight separate �specimens� were removed including some initially positive margins. According to intraoperative frozen section analysis, one specimen was 2.0 X 1.8 X 0.8 cm and tumor positive on one end and a second specimen was 3.5 X 2.0 X 0.3 cm, tumor positive all the way around and contiguous with the 0.8 cm deep tumor positive end of the first one. In the �final diagnosis� the pathologist makes no other comment other than (infiltrating scc, 0.9 cm in greatest dimension). My H and N doc has not recommended any treatment of the neck and no scans. So far I have been unable to get an explanation of the discrepancy from either the H and N doc or the pathologist.

According to every study I have found, an oral tongue cancer 8 mm deep and/or 3.5 cm long has at least a 50% chance of occult nodal spread. Unless I can get a satisfactory explanation as to why I shouldn�t be concerned; either by my current doc or by getting a second opinion on my slides, my next step is to shop for a center that will do the treatment I want. So I�m trying to get an idea of the pros and cons of elective neck dissection versus elective neck irradiation.

At first glance, the irradiation looks like less potential for a big time screw up and a way to get ALL the bad cells levels I � V, and in transit.

(ps: my tongue surgery was done at a highly ranked CCC, and any shopping will be at similar highly ranked CCCs)

Thanks!