This site is great and overwhelming in the best way--lots of great info.

I am 37, diagnosed late Oct with squamous cell carcinoma in a lymph node, unknown primary. I happen to be pregnant so only an MRI was done (PET scheduled for after baby), no primary revealed itself. Surgical biopsy/tonsillectomy in November--my surgeon was surprised to find cancer in one of the to-the-naked-eye, healthy looking tonsils and pathologists think that may be the primary (but no guarantees, of course). Neck dissection in December to remove lymph nodes and we were told that if cancer cells were in just one node, we would likely be done with treatment.

We learned that indeed the cancer was in only one node and the margins were clean, however, the margin cancer cells showed an "extra capsular spread". We are consulting with several radiation oncologists but my surgeon indicates that there are arguments for and against radiation therapy for many reasons including my age, likelihood of recurrence and apparently my cancer is not currently treatable with chemo so if I do radiation now and I have recurrence, I may not have a treatment available.

Does anyone have a layman's explanation for extra capsular spread?

Has anyone else had to deal with the choice of treatment? How did you evaluate the risks? It seems that most everyone posting has included radiation and even chemo in their therapy.

Lastly, if I do choose to have the radiation, how debilitating is this? I will have a newborn (plan is to induce baby early and then start radiation 2 days later) and a 2-1/2 year old at home. Will I need even more help after the radiation treatments? We have excellent support but no extended family in the area so I need to make arrangements now.

Any feedback is most appreciated.

Oh June, what a dilemma! I can answer only one of your questions, that about caring for your children. Yes, you will need assistance if you have radiation. I weathered that and the chemo more easily than most, but from about the half way mark, I had a noticeable decrease in energy, and was sleeping much more. I wish you well and will keep you in my prayers. I know that more knowledgable members will respond soon with more information. Stay strong!
Joanna

Hi My name is su and my mum is janet and she has cancer of the upper jaw and we have a link in this section. My mother has also been advised not to have radiation at this stage too. She has had the tumour cut out with a clear margin and it was advised to wait and see what happens first before going for the radiation treatment. The reason they gave for this was, it is hoped with the clear margin she may not get a reoccurance. If she has radiation she may get quite a few side effects, also if she uses up this treatment now, when it doesnt seem obviously necessary now, she wont have anything left to fight the cancer with, if she gets a reoccurance. We have been advised to be very vigilent for reoccurance choosing this option,but at the moment all is going well. Best wishes.

Su... check out your profile. Have added you and your mom's picture which you sent me to the file.

Hello all

This may sound like a silly question, but i am new to all this, but can you only have raditherapy once. My brother has stage 3 cancer of the mouth, he has had an op to remove the roofof his mouth, and chemo and has now had radiotherapy for 7 weeks. can he not have any more rad.

Cazz,

One can only take certain dosage of radiation to a specific area, usually, it is around 7000 to 8000 Gy. If one already has that dosage done to the head and neck, he or she cann no longer have any radiation for this area, but he can still have it somewhere else.

WZ
Thank you for your reply. Probably like all of you, I never thought I would need to know the ins and outs of cancer. Now I come up everyday with questions I need answered. I am so glad I have found this site.