Management of the Oncology Patient

• risk factor of oral cancer?

  • smoking, smokeless tobacco, exposure to smoking
  • alcohol
  • HPV
  • HIV
  • organ transplant
  • family history of mouth cancer
• treatment?

  Surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy are used alone or combination; depending on the size of tumour, cervical lymph node involvement, metastases, prognosis, co-morbidities and patient wishes. Treatment can have adverse effects on respiration, mastication, swallowing, speech, taste, salivary gland function, mouth opening and the appearance of the head and neck region
• surgery:

  • cure or pallitive
  • selective neck dissection
  • reconstructions
  • surgery avoids complications of radiotherapy eg xerostomic, osteoradionecrosis