Head & Neck Cancer Surgery

Head and neck cancers include numerous tumors that develop in and around your nose, mouth, throat, and sinuses. Other cancers located in the head and neck region, such as thyroid cancer, aren’t included in this broad group of cancers.

There are five types of head and neck cancer:

• Salivary Gland Cancers: About 70% of salivary gland cancers start in the parotid salivary glands, which are located in front of your ears, while 20% originate in the submandibular glands under your jaw. The remaining 10% occur in sublingual salivary glands below your tongue, or less often, in one of the hundreds of even smaller salivary glands.
• Nasopharyngeal Cancers: These cancers develop in the nasopharynx, which is the air passageway at the upper part of your throat, just behind your nose.
• Oral and Oropharyngeal Cancers: The oral cavity includes your mouth and tongue, while the oropharynx is the middle of your throat.
• Nasal Cavity and Paranasal Sinus Cancers: These cancers occur inside your nose and in the four pairs of sinuses around your eyes and alongside your nose.
• Laryngeal and Hypopharyngeal Cancers: The larynx is the voice box, while the hypopharynx is the lower part of your throat surrounding the larynx.

As a group, head and neck cancers cause symptoms such as:

• Pain or difficulty when swallowing or chewing
• Hoarseness or voice changes
• Lump in your mouth, cheek, neck, or jaw
• Sores, bumps, or white and red patches in your mouth
• Pain that doesn’t go away

Nasopharyngeal cancers often cause symptoms you may not expect, such as ringing in your ears, hearing loss, a stuffy nose, nosebleeds, and blurry vision. Nasal and sinus cancers tend to cause congestion, postnasal drip, sinus changes, and vision changes.

There are many types of head and neck cancer surgeries, with each one named according to the targeted structure. A pharyngectomy, for example, is surgery to remove all or part of your throat.

For all types of head and neck surgery, your doctor at Specialty Physician Associates removes the tumor together with some of the surrounding tissues, and lymph nodes if necessary, to be sure all the cancer is eliminated. Following your cancer surgery, you may receive radiation therapy or chemoradiation (combined radiation therapy and chemotherapy) to eliminate any stray cancer cells.

Following head and neck cancer surgery, the doctors at Specialty Physician Associates reconstruct the area affected by your tumor. Reconstruction may be performed during surgery to remove the tumor or after your cancer treatment is finished.