Head and Neck Cancer UK

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UK Head and Neck Cancer

Head and Neck Cancer is a spectrum of disease covering malignant disease of the upper aerodigestive tract, salivary glands and thyroid. They comprise of 3% of all the new cancers seen in the UK per year and are therefore relatively rare therefore should be treated by individuals that deal with this spectrum of disease regularly and in a centre that has the complete infrastructure necessary to support a patient through their treatment.

Risk factors for Head and Neck Cancers include:

  • Smoking
  • Alcohol
  • Poor dentition
  • Chewing tobacco
  • Genetic

Head and Neck Cancer Centre

Head and Neck Cancers by virtue of the fact that they are rare need to be treated through a Centre that has the specialists within it to treat and look after a patient throughout their management plan.

Making the diagnosis of Head and Neck cancer requires skilled clinicians, surgeons and oncologists, used to taking good histories and recognizing risk factors in the history. Appropriate special investigations, reported by experts in their fields is essential. This includes dedicated Head and Neck radiologists to look at the variety of X-Rays taken for patients, dedicated pathologists looking at specimens and biopsies and dedicated cytopathologists looking at cells extracted from head and neck lumps by a process called fine needle aspiration cytology.

Patients should be discussed in a multidisciplinary forum such that unilateral decisions are not made and these will include not just the specialists named above such as the surgeons, oncologists, pathologists and radiologists but also the other very important aspects to a Head and Neck Cancer Centre including Clinical Nurse Specialists, Speech and Language Therapists and Dieticians.

Mr Vaz is a dedicated ENT / Head and Neck surgeon that sees patients with Head and Neck Cancers regularly and channels them through a premier Service at the dedicated Head and Neck Cancer Centre at University College London Hospital. Patients can be seen here and managed both in the private and NHS sectors