saliva glands can they be transplanted

Hello-could you please post what kind of cancer you had and the treatments you went through

including surgeries, radiation, chemotherapy etc. to help understand your status.

How long has it been since you finished treatment?

It takes awhile sometimes till the saliva comes back and the gagging stops.

And also if you had radiation on your throat area it takes awhile for healing and the swelling to go

down so you can swallow again maybe you need to just be patient and give it more time.

Many on here have been through some difficult treatments and have very limited saliva and I

have had 4 throat dilations where they slowly expand the throat again which you may consider

and it helps you to swallow again.

I have read these forums for quite awhile and have never heard of having a voice box removed so you

could swallow again so more information on your treatment and situation would be very helpful to the

group to help give you information that might help you.

Hey BJN,

The entrance to my esophagus was fibrosed closed, and my saliva glands were fried into extinction  by treatment in the Rad Dungeon, so I was a PEG feeder, and had the joy of periodically excavating from my mouth, large quantities of industrial grade viscosity mucus, no saliva, for 11 years.  In 2011 I had my esophagus reconstructed (with after market parts), along with a laryngectomy after which I was at long last, and more than joyfully able to swallow again; liquids only, but I love it. A few months after the dance in the surgical suite, I was noticing that the viscosity of my mucus was becoming not so much industrial grade and more fluidy, alright cool enough, that's all good.  Then, one day, while getting a routine follow-up evaluation, my ENT informed me that the fluid in my mouth was not mucus, but was.............wait for it ..................in fact saliva!  I was way more than amazed; my saliva glands were unextincted, and once again pumping out that wonderful, and I believe all to often under appreciated, fluid- saliva!  Now, I am thankfully here to tell you that, for me, that re-awakening of my salivary glands was truly, undoubtedly, unmistakably an amazing miracle!!  I have not heard of anyone else who has had a similar experience, so I consider myself most extremely fortunate to have experienced this wonderful change in my salivary glands functioning.  Once your esophagus is reconstructed, saliva may not be the most significant factor for swallowing, but you will probably have to wait until the healing is in to find out what factors will be important for your swallowing.  So, hang in there, as you deal with the many wait and sees that you are dealing with as you go through the esophagus reconstruction and laryngectomy odyssey.  I send my very best wishes for you on your re-swallowing adventure.      

Patrick

BJNsmith53 said:

saliva miracle

Hey Patrick, I don't know if you realized that the thread was from me.  I have been meaning to ask you about the saliva glands and I keep forgetting.  That is good to know about how yours came back.  Also are you strictly on liquids now or can you eat soft foods like potatoes, pasta and eggs?  I sure hope my glands come back to life it would make eating and my stomach feel alot better.  Thanks for the input.  Brenda

Hey Brenda,

I did recognize that you had posted your question.  I am on an all smoothie diet all of the time because I am missing a majority of my tongue due to the BOT surgery, and then, after my laryngectomy I lost a bit more of it; and after my last surgery in 1/17 to remove some tumors from the soft palate in my mouth, I lost another bit more of my tongue, along with the two molars, on the right side, that prior to the last surgery, allowed me to eat some easily disintergrated foods like chips.  I just returned from the International Association of Laryngectomees Annual Meeting and Voice Institute, which was held in Orlando last week, and I as usual, brought my trusty NutriBullet Rx with me and enjoyed blended meals in the hotel restaurant, Applebee's, as well as some blended meals in my room. The Meeting and Voice Institute were tremendous for the social and educational experiences which I and the other attendees enjoyed.

Patrick 

Hello Tim and welcome to the CSN H&N forum. I am sorry you have had to deal with issues surrounding this situation since shortly after birth. But I would say you are also amazingly Blessed to be in a place where something like that could be done in 1950, it sounds like quite a medical feat. I can commiserate with you on the allergy as I seem to have my share of sinus problems and an occasional infection.

To the best of my knowledge, I think they can remove saliva glands if necessary. Will it help your situation, I don’t know. As far as transplanting a saliva gland from one person to another I have never heard of it. Also between two people, there would be the possibility of rejection which would need to be addressed if this is possible at all. As far as being able to do anything to mitigate dry mouth and damaged saliva glands after H&N radiation or any medical procedures there is nothing that can be done at this point, I wish there was. I do know some people in our local H&N support group have had acupuncture and other things they have tried to mitigate this condition with mixed results. Some got relief to some extent and others noticed no difference, you just have to give things a try and sometimes you end up with positive results.

I found this in an article from 2020--Trends in Molecular Medicene

The vast majority of the 550,000 patients who undergo head and neck cancer radiotherapy annually and more than 4 million patients with Sjögren’s syndrome worldwide live with salivary gland dysfunction.

• There currently exists no U.S. Food and Drug Administration–approved permanent solution to salivary gland hypofunction and resulting xerostomia.
• Stem cell transplant to replace functional salivary gland tissue is an attractive therapeutic option.
• Advances in gene therapy have resulted in a number of studies investigating the replacement of key glandular components as a regenerative strategy.
• However, there still exists a clinical bottleneck, with the majority of products or strategies failing to reach phase 4.

Permanent damage to the salivary glands and resulting hyposalivation and xerostomia have a substantial impact on patient health, quality of life, and healthcare costs. Currently, patients rely on lifelong treatments that alleviate the symptoms, but no long-term restorative solutions exist. Recent advances in adult stem cell enrichment and transplantation, bioengineering, and gene transfer have proved successful in rescuing salivary gland function in a number of animal models that reflect human diseases and that result in hyposalivation and xerostomia. By overcoming the limitations of stem cell transplants and better understanding the mechanisms of cellular plasticity in the adult salivary gland, such studies provide encouraging evidence that a regenerative strategy for patients will be available in the near future.

You can search "salivary gland transplant" and there is info there about doing some kind of transplant for severe dry eye involving minor salivary gland transplantation for severe dry eye but it is not yet viable for dry mouth.

I think if you want to pursue this you will need to start with a skilled ENT or a large hospital, or a teaching hospital to see if any or all of this is viable yet.

In the meantime here is an article from cancer.net on dealing with dry mouth.

And lastly Tim I wish you the best on alleviating your problem, I hope you can find a solution.

And if you find I am incorrect on any of this or find some good information on your searching please let us know.

Take care, God Bless-Russ