My mother has had a recurring Phase I superficial squamous carcinoma of the mouth. She has had several surgeries, about to have another one.

The opinion of our doctor at the Memorial Sloan Kettering (oral surgeon/oncologist) has been that because of the good pathology reports and lack of involevement of the nodes, no radiation has been necessary (i.e., surgery only for us so far).

Also, the cancer recurred in different places in the mouth after it was removed in one place completely, which is, according to him is relatively rare. He is saying that he is not sure if he'd recommend radiation still because you can do this procedure only once, and because we don't know exactly what part of the mouth to radiate (i.e., what if it reccurs on the other side of the mouth after the radiation?)

I think it would be great if he discussed it with some other doctors at the hospital just to get their perspective. He is a very experienced and good surgeon and doctor and a great guy. But sometimes, other experts may have an opinion or suggestion that may be helpful. I am afraid to suggest it to him, because it would look like we don't trust his judgement, which is not the case.

What do you suggest?