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A comprehensive approach to Oral Cancer focused on effective treatment while preserving function.
At Middlesex Health, our comprehensive approach to Oral Cancer allows our patients to not only beat cancer but also preserve their ability to taste, chew, swallow, and speak.
To achieve this goal, multiple care providers will be dedicated to your treatment, including head and neck surgical oncologists, medical oncologists and radiation oncologists,
In addition, our speech pathologists, nutritionists, and other rehabilitation team members get involved in your care from the very beginning. Early evaluation allows our speech pathologists to identify any potential speech and swallowing problems you may develop during or after treatment and provide ways to prevent or lessen these issues.
Furthmore, the Middlesex Health Cancer Center provides a range of supportive care services to patients and their families, including mental health counseling, social work services, and more.
About Oral Cancer
Cancer can strike the mouth or oral cavity in the following places:
- Tongue
- Lips
- Gums
- The floor of the mouth underneath the tongue
- The hard roof of the mouth
- The inside of the cheeks
- The space behind the wisdom teeth
Cancers that affect the back of the tongue, tonsils, and other areas of the throat are classified as throat cancers.
Most oral cancers are squamous cell cancers, which grow in the thin, flat squamous cells of the mouth. Risk factors for mouth cancer include tobacco and alcohol use and sun exposure (for lip cancer).
Typically, mouth cancer is suspected when patients or their dentists notice symptoms such as the following:
- A sore that does not heal
- White or red patches
- Persistent and unexplained pain, numbness or bleeding
- Swelling
Diagnosis often requires a biopsy or removal of a tiny part of abnormal tissue. This allows our pathologists to provide a precise diagnosis.
Your care plan will involve one or more of the following treatments:
- Surgery
- Radiation therapy
- Chemotherapy or cancer-killing drugs
- Other drug therapies, such as immunotherapy
For oral cancer, surgery is often the best treatment choice for ensuring the ability to taste, chew, speak, and swallow.
Our highly experienced head and neck surgeons take a thoughtful and targeted approach to surgery. We only remove tissue that has cancer in it. Our surgeons are also highly experienced in facial and oral cavity reconstruction to restore speech and swallowing function following the removal of cancers.
Locations
2 Specialty Care Locations