In Hong Kong, the latest practice to treat Head and Neck cancers of advanced stage is concurrent treatment of chemo and radiation. I had 48 rounds of radiation and 4 cisplatin in the first 4 weeks of the treatment. Surgery was originally planned but after the treatment, the cancer had disappeared and I need not have operation. Ever since the treatment, I have been in remission for over 3 years already. There are of course side effects of cisplatin but are tolerable.I am surprised there is argument among different doctors. In my case the team of doctors worked out the best plan for me and I just followed their decision.

Karen.

Thank you all for replying. The Radiologist explained to my brother in-law today of the possible risks of having chemotherapy. He told him the mucositis is severe and all the negative possiblities that could happen with the chemo, even death. I guess they have to tell you all these things but created alot more anxiety and indecision. He will be getting 100 mgs of cisplatin for 2 days and then again the same thing in another 21 days if he decides to go through with it. Is this the typical dosage? Did anyone have a very hard time with the mucositis and how did you manage this. He is afraid of the possibility of choking. I earlier posted the size of his tumor in error. The tumor in the lymph node was 4 x 3 x 2 and the primary was just a little speck that they removed. Don't know if that makes any difference. Did anyone have this treatment who is around or over 60? Thanks for your help.

Lrn10,

There is a posting on the OCF "oral cancer in the news" section about the results of a clinical trial that combined Erbitux and radiation therapy. The link to the story is:
http://www.oralcancerfoundation.org/news/story.asp?newsId=667

The relevant thing here is that Erbitux is a monoclonal antibody treatment, not a chemotherapy drug. It could be that this combination avoids the adverse effects of chemo but provides advantages over radiation only. Best, Sheldon

Lrn10,

I have known people in their 70's and 80's that have made it through the chemo and I know from personal experience I was much more of a whimp than they were! With the stage of your brother-in-law, I do not understand how a trained professional could suggest that increasing the odds for survival would depend on the ability to tolerate mucositis. There are many ways to deal with all the side effects and either treatment can affect different people in different ways. However, when it comes to even a slight better chance at beating the beast, I would do it again in a second.

Likewise, if the doctors mentioned I had any risk factors, sign me up for more treatment! When you are facing 28%-30% 5 year survival rates, I will glady choose the 30% and do everything in my power to make it through the treatment.

Many have traveled this road and there are still no guarentees. Doing everything possible may at least provide a little more peace of mind. It is already a bit scary and unnverving at times while on the road to recovery. Don't short cut for any reasons since there are none that are valid that I know of.

Ed

I had surgery, radiation & cisplatin. Slash, burn & poison! I am almost 10 months out & no reccurence today. I say hit as hard as you can as early as possible w/everything available, fight like hell & hope for the best! Erik

Lrn10,
I'm with the others on using chemoradiotherapy. It's a tough combination, but there are older people that have gotten through it. My mom was 71 when she started her treatment. She is about 18 months post treatment and on her road to recovery. We agreed to attack her disease with everything available (surgery, induction chemo, chemoradiotherapy, more chemo and another surgery). Our attitude was to go in there and nuke this thing with whatever was available given mom's overall condition. I wish your brother-in-law, you and your family all the best.
Take care.
Dave

Lrn10, I agree with most here. I was 53 when treated and had tonsilectomy, rad/chemo (ciplatin every 21 days), and radical neck dissection. I wanted to do everything to get it dead and out of me to insure that this cancer never bothered me again and try to kill any of its cousins that happened to be floating around. A little discomfort now could be tolerated, but ever wondering if I got a recurrance if I had only treated this round tougher whether I wouldn't have had a recurrance was unacceptable. So I would strongly recommend the chemo to go with it. Besides, the chemo was one of the easiest treatments for me. They give you anti nausia drugs to help deal with the problem. Once they find the right anti nausia drug, it is fairly easy. Good luck.