I feel the same as Jerry. I had 3 days of radiation and had to quit because of throat swelling. It was only insurance against future cancers because I was or am cancer free. I had clear margins and nothing in nodes.
Now, I have dental problems and am glad I did not have it. I think God was watching over me in that respect. No one can say for sure, but If you get it, you should have had it and if you don't you did the right thing. We must jsut have
peace with our decisions.
Good luck to you

Robin was staged at T1 N2 M0 great diagnosis we were told.He had 62 nodes removed and 60 of them were clear.The ones that weren't were round his tumour site and removed at surgery to his neck.His upper body scan was clear for mets and he had 35 radiation treatments.

Get the picture Fran? There is no right or wrong with this disease every decision you make will only seem right or wrong in hindsight,thats what makes it so bloody difficult.

In England we dont get these choices to make ,just a treatment plan given at the onset by a multidisciplinary team after lengthy conferences between themselves.I cant say which i think is best,but with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight i wish they had thrown the kitchen sink at Robin despite his early staging.

Liz

Me too Liz, love you.

It's too bad there isn't also some magic way to determine who will or will not have a recurrence. (and how to prevent them for sure!) To Jerry's comments - I agree, if I don't have a recurrence then I know I did the right thing about not having radiation. However, if I do have a recurrence, who knows if it would have happened anyway even WITH R/T? Unfortunately we've seen our own members who have had recurrences after R/T.

Luanee - I have posted before about the clinical trial I am involved in - here's a link to a good explanation of the trial and what it involves.
http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct/show/NCT00402779?order=2

Please let me know if you have other questions on it once you read the description - and, as you can see, it's no guarantee that I will not have a recurrence, but I believe the research involved will at least help move this forward.

Me2, I found some info about Tarceva; in Italy it is only being experimented for lung cancer, at the moment. The trial you mention sounds interesting, I'll try and find something similar here.

Hi Francesca,

I had a stage one tongue cancer two years ago, which was removed via surgery (along with lymph nodes). I was also told they had found a "speck" of malignant cells in one of my lymph nodes, although that particular slide of where those malignant cells were seen somehow got "lost" in the laboratory (long story). In any case, after talking to 8 doctors at two Comprehensive Cancer Centers (Inclusing MD Anderson, in Houston), I was told that radiation was not warranted in my case. Like I said, it has been two years and so far so good; in fact, I feel better than ever. So, if you're dealing with a stage one, I would definitely recommend NOT getting radiation.

Saluti,
Luigi

Thanks Luigi, this is encouraging. I'll see another doctor tomorrow and then decide.
Ciao.

That worked for you luigi but as i have pointed out Robin was staged at 1 in january and died in july so how do you justify a statemnt like "definately not".Like i said before in hindsight that is great advice but no two cases are the same.

Luigi,
Respectfully, I have to agree with Cookey on this one.
Always, Never, and Definately Not are terms that should not be used in medicine and in the treatment of H&N and OC cancer. What works for one patient does not guarntee success in another.
Patients need to get all the opinions and weigh their options and then choose the treatment they feel is best for them.
I am aware of cases of T1, N0 cancer that have been successfully treated with surgery only, others with radiation only others with the terrible threesome (slash, burn and poison) surgery, radiation and chemo. I am also aware of patients that have not been so lucky in all of the above categories.

Luigi congratulations on your success, don't let my post take anything away from your choices and success. Afterall you made the right choices for you.

Just my 2 cents.

Cheers,

Mike

Leslie B ; My surgeon is affilated with about 11 other Drs at James Cancer Center. They all work together in making the decisions about their patients. I have a lot of confidnece in them and I sure hope they are right. I like Me2 am in a cancer study to research the reoccurence of oral cancer. I see this team at the Cancer Center the same day I see my Dr. Thanks for the interest.