No Surgery - Chemo and Radiation

mommyofthree74
mommyofthree74 Member Posts: 4
in Head and Neck Cancer #1

The ENT met with us today and said that surgery is not an option because they would have to open his jaw and remove part of his voice box. Instead he is recommending chemo and radiation - no surgery. Was this the case for anyone?

Comments

  • desertrat
    desertrat Member Posts: 1
    #2
    No Surgery- Chemo and Radiation

    Yes, my husband didn't have surgery either for his throat/tonsil cancer.  The chemo and TOMO radiation did the job, and it has been 8 years since his treatments ended.  He is a survivor, with the worse after-affect being one floppy vocal cord that was damaged by the cancer and has to take a mild thyroid pill because the radiation made him have a sluggish thyroid.

  • mommyofthree74
    mommyofthree74 Member Posts: 4
    #3
    desertrat said:

    No Surgery- Chemo and Radiation

    Yes, my husband didn't have surgery either for his throat/tonsil cancer.  The chemo and TOMO radiation did the job, and it has been 8 years since his treatments ended.  He is a survivor, with the worse after-affect being one floppy vocal cord that was damaged by the cancer and has to take a mild thyroid pill because the radiation made him have a sluggish thyroid.

    Great News

    That is great to hear. I thought surgery was a must to remove it. I am so happy to hear about your husbands recovery. We are just starting this terrifying journey.  

  • DarcyS
    DarcyS Member Posts: 81 Member
    #4
    No surgery

    My husband did not have surgery for ssc of his piriform sinus, T1N2bM0.  He had 6 weeks of chemo followed by 10 weeks of chemo and radiation.  At the University of Chicago, where he had treatment, they said surgery was plan b.  He is almost 5 years out and doing great!

  • soonermom
    soonermom Member Posts: 155
    #5
    No Surgery

    It was not an option for my husband's BOT SCC cancer.  He had radiation and chemo.  Surgeons want to cut.  When the surgeon told us surgery was not a good treatment option, we believed her.  

  • yensid683
    yensid683 Member Posts: 349
    #6
    no initial surgery for me either

    I was diagnosed in March of 2012 with stage IVa base of tongue and surgery was not an option.  I was scheduled for 3 induction chemo sessions (5 hospital days on continous high dose chemo) but only had to endure 1, they compromised my kidney function with the first round.  I moved to concurrent chemo and radiation, 8 weekly doses of erbitux and 33 rads, and only after the 3 month PET did they do a selective neck dissection.

    I'm about to cross the 5 year threshold - so excited!- and no sign of any recurrence 

    the no surgery first option worked for me !!

  • Bob Watt
    Bob Watt Member Posts: 60 Member
    #7
    No Surgery here either

    Had radiation and chemo that finished in April. Surgery was mentioned at the beginning to remove the neck lump, but as radiation and chemo progressed my oncologist said there was no reason to even consider surgery.

  • MGC
    MGC Member Posts: 72 Member
    #8
    No surgery

    SCC and BOT multiple nodes on primary side into shoulder. Surgery was an option but the doctors said no reason to as studies claimed the overall survival rate and re-occurrence rate were not any better so no surgery for me. Also leaves the option open in the future if needed. Seven years out now and NED.

    Mark

  • Senthilkumar
    Senthilkumar Member Posts: 1
    #9
    Squamous Cell Carcinoma

    Hi All,

     

    My father has been suffered from Throat cancer (Squamous Cell Carcinoma)  Is throat cancer could be burst out??

  • caregiver wife
    caregiver wife Member Posts: 234
    #10
    Senthilkumar said:

    Squamous Cell Carcinoma

    Hi All,

     

    My father has been suffered from Throat cancer (Squamous Cell Carcinoma)  Is throat cancer could be burst out??

    Welcome,

    Glad you found this support group.

    If I understand your question correctly, your father has or had throat cancer; AND it has appeared as an open wound.  This happened with my husband's throat cancer.  We found great success with a wound doctor to help us manage the open wound.  After several months of continuing chemo treatment, he is currently in remission.

    Please let us know if you have other questions.  Your father is fortunate to have you to help research his condition.

    Crystal

  • tbret
    tbret Member Posts: 71 Member
    #11
    No surgery for me, either

    I'm a little late chiming-in, but I had 7 chemo infusions (I only tolerated 5) and 35 radiation doses with no surgery. 

    The ENT said, "You have throat cancer." 

    I said, "Cut."

    He said, "I can't get clean margins, so I won't do it," and my 90 day follow-up scan - late February - was NED.   In June the ENT said, "You are doing marvelously well," and I'm taking his word for it.

    It is a terrifying journey.  Yes.  I had a tremendous amount of support from my family and a few friends who went way out of their way to just let me know they were there and praying / rooting / hoping for me. 

    My family, unfortunately, did not have as much support.  Take care of yourself through this.

  • Andy13460
    Andy13460 Member Posts: 115
    edited July 2017 #12
    No surgery either

    Base of tongue SCC T2:N1:M0 HPV16+ stage 3   3 large doses of Cisplatin Chemo and 35 zaps of IMRT radiation (70 Gy) over 7 weeks

     

  • soonermom
    soonermom Member Posts: 155
    #13
    OKC Native

    Our experience at Stephenson was that the staging of your cancer impacts the treatment plan.  I don't know if your tumor has been staged yet but once it has and it goes before the tumor board, you will have a very clear plan.  I agree many patients don't have surgery.  We are in the process of working through the post chemo/radiation options.  Always remember that each tumor/cancer is different in some ways and you have to think through what is best for your situation.  The team will give you what they think is the best plan for you, based on national standards of care.  Hang in there. Once you have a treatment plan, the pace of things will pick up.

  • soonermom
    soonermom Member Posts: 155
    #14
    OKCnative said:

    I'm still very new to this.

    I'm still very new to this. Met with the Cancer Center on 6/26/2017 and they identified my cancer as SCC at the base of my tongue. So far I've only done my PET Scan and a hearing test. However, my team has said that surgery would be a last option as they prefer to treat with chemo and radiation first and then see if any surgergy is necessary. I was very glad to hear this, as my first ENT said he wanted to go right in an remove my nodes.

    My team says many of their patients never need any surgery at all. 

    It seems there are two schools of thought - surgery first or surgery last and only if absolutely necessary.

    *I prefer the treatment first approach personally.

    Treatment

    Just FYI, my husband had a Stage 4 SCC BOT.  He did not have surgery prior to chemo/radiation.  

  • OKCnative
    OKCnative Member Posts: 326 Member
    #15
    I'm still very new to this.

    I'm still very new to this. Met with the Cancer Center on 6/26/2017 and they identified my cancer as SCC at the base of my tongue. So far I've only done my PET Scan and a hearing test. However, my team has said that surgery would be a last option as they prefer to treat with chemo and radiation first and then see if any surgergy is necessary. I was very glad to hear this, as my first ENT said he wanted to go right in an remove my nodes.

    My team says many of their patients never need any surgery at all. 

    It seems there are two schools of thought - surgery first or surgery last and only if absolutely necessary.

    *I prefer the treatment first approach personally.

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