Find Healing With Head and Neck Cancer Experts

Chemotherapy for head and neck cancer uses a combination of specialized intravenous medications to destroy or slow down fast-growing cancer cells throughout your body. It can be used in combination with surgery or radiation therapy.

At AdventHealth Cancer Institute Shawnee Mission, we know that no two cancer diagnoses are the same, so our head and neck doctors will customize your chemotherapy treatment based on your diagnosis. Depending on the type of head or neck cancer you have, we’ll work with you to create a medication combination that suits your needs.

Radiation therapy for head and neck cancer treatments targets specific areas of your body. It shrinks tumors and destroys cancer cells by damaging their DNA. For cancers of the head and neck, we usually deliver radiation therapy through:

• External radiation: delivers radiation in a concentrated beam, so that nearby healthy tissue is not affected
• Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT): creates a 3D visualization of the tumor, targeting it with intense beams

If you need head and neck surgery for cancer, there are a variety of procedures that help us address your diagnosis. Depending on where the cancer is, your surgery may include:

• Excision, for cancerous tissue
• Glossectomy, for cancer of the tongue
• Mandibulectomy, for lower jaw cancer
• Maxillectomy, for upper jaw cancer
• Microvascular reconstruction, for head and neck cancers
• Neck dissection, for cancer in the lymph nodes
• Open surgical excision, for cancerous tissue
• Transoral laser microsurgery, to remove tumors through the mouth
• Transoral robotic surgery, to remove tumors through the mouth using a robotic-assisted surgical system