Hi,

My name is Avisek and my dad had been diagnosed with oral cancer in 2006 at the center of left cheek (mucosa). First time he was operated for that in 2006 and second in late 2011, he was again diagnosed with presence cancer cell at the same spot. So, he was operated for the second in Jan, 2012 (recently). This is stage one, as clinically, it was difficult to diagnose that it was a cancer (no gland, no hard screen and a white patch was there which was not healing up)

In the report of second operation (in biopsy report), it came out that all margins are clear of that area. However at one spot, margin was close about 1 mm. For that, some doctors said that he should go through radio-therapy and some doctors said that he should operated once again (this time by opening complete cheek from left side of lips through Jaws to buckle joint and then replacing the complete mucosa with skin from fore arm).

Right now, we are unable to understand and decide anything....... Can anyone help us in deciding what should be the best option for him. If anyone has gone through such a kind of situation, can you please share your thoughts on it. As your inputs will be of great value to us.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Regards
Avisek Bhardwaj

Welcome to OCF! Im sorry you are here for your father. Making treatment decisions is not easy. This is something you along with your father and rest of the family will have to decide. I can suggest you get the top medical professionals and if possible go seek another second opinion from other top doctors. The hopefully you will be able to get together and make an informed decision regarding which way to proceed.


I also have had tumors in my cheek. I have had cancer twice in almost the exact same spot inside my left cheek. The first time I went thru chemo and radiation trying to avoid a major surgery. The first time I had cancer was 2007 with 2 separate spots. The other spot was behind my top left molar which would have made it a very invasive surgery. Radiation with chemo took care of both tumors but I had a recurrence about a year later. Then in 2008 the cancer was back again, it was in my jawbone. I underwent major surgery to remove my lower left jaw. Im now 2 1/2 years cancer free and thankful for every single day.

The surgery you have described would remove a large amount of tissue. This is to make certain the margins would be wide enough, so it wont come back. Removing the cheek and replacing it with transplanted skin sounds like a huge ordeal. But if the doctors are only working with the cheek area, it wouldnt be too difficult. Where they could run into possible problems are the 5 major nerves which run across the face/cheeks. There could be facial paralysis if even one of them is damaged. That would be a huge issue. Also connecting all the teeny tiny blood vessels to get good blood flow is a very intricate task. If I were in your shoes I would ask the doctors to detail all the possible risks before deciding upon weather to do the surgery or choose radiation/chemo. Something needs to be done since the margins were too close.