Head and neck tumors

Cancer in the head and neck is a cancer that develops inside the mouth, the throat, the pharynx, the vocal cords, the saliva glands, the nose and in other places in the head or neck. Similarly to other cancerous diseases, the treatment of cancer of the head and neck is carried out in a number of processes:

surgical excision of the tumor: if possible, the malignant tumors are excised during surgical procedures. Sometimes, it is necessary to excise extensive margins of affected tissue, which causes some kind of disability but, in most instances, early detection enables vital anatomical organs to be saved.

Radiation: with head and neck cancer, radiation therapy can help shrink tumors and prevent recurrence of the disease.

Chemotherapy: in more severe cases, patients suffering from head and neck cancer are treated with chemotherapy, which systemically destroys the tumor.
Biological therapy: biological drugs work on various receptors in cancerous tissue with the aims of preventing the cancer from proliferating and of destroying the tumor. In recent years, biological therapy has also been introduced (like drugs that bind the EGFR)  to treat advanced stages of head and neck cancer.

Immunotherapy: drugs that use the immune system to fight the tumor, when the tumor is paralyzing the immune system. One of the known mechanisms uses the immune system in a focused way with drugs that inhibit PD1.

Personalized therapy: the most suitable therapy may be decided according to the biological characteristics of the tumor tissue, whether chemotherapy, biological therapy, immunotherapy or hormone therapy.