Cochrane

Review question We reviewed the evidence to compare two treatments for throat cancer. The treatments were keyhole surgery and radiotherapy alone or combined with chemotherapy. Background More than 400,000 cases of cancer of the middle part of the throat (oropharynx) are diagnosed each year worldwide and this number is rising, with human papillomavirus ...

Review question To establish the evidence for the effects of therapeutic swallowing exercises, undertaken before, during and/or immediately after head and neck cancer treatment, on swallowing. Background A swallowing impairment (dysphagia) commonly occurs as a result of head and neck cancer treatment. It may be temporary, resulting from a dry mouth ...

Review question This review looks at the evidence for the benefits of new kinds of therapies for treating cancer of the mouth (oral cavity cancer) and cancer of the throat (oropharyngeal cancer) used together with standard treatments. One is the targeting of cancer cells directly whilst the other aims to boost the body’s own immune system to combat ...

Review question Does screening individuals without symptoms using an Epstein-Barr virus blood test or nasopharyngoscopy (or both) reduce the mortality associated with nasopharyngeal cancer? Background Nasopharyngeal cancer is a rare cancer worldwide, but it is common in the Cantonese population of southern China. Due to its deep location in the ...

Background Cancer of the larynx or voice box usually begins in the glottis (vocal cords) as a squamous cell cancer (cancer in the membranes). Most people survive these cancers when they get treatment early, before the cancer spreads further into the larynx and surrounding area. Options include radiotherapy, open surgery where access is through the ...

Recent studies suggest a connection between a virus (human papillomavirus) and throat cancer (oropharyngeal cancer) in some patients. This review has been conducted to assess potential new treatments that have emerged as a result of this information. When diagnosed, throat cancers can be at an advanced stage and radiotherapy (which uses beams of radiation ...

There is a steady rise in the number of people being diagnosed with head and neck cancer. It is more common in men over 60, but the incidence rate is rising, especially in younger adults (men and women under 40). Survival rates for some cancers in the head and neck area are over 50%. As a result, the quality of life of head and neck cancer patients ...

Patients with cancer of the head and neck are at risk of malnutrition during radiotherapy treatment due to the side effects of this treatment and they may need tube feeding to meet their nutritional needs. Tube feeding can either be delivered via a nasogastric feeding tube, which is a fine tube inserted through the nose into the stomach, or a gastrostomy ...

Both neck dissection and radiotherapy can cause morbidity to the shoulder joint. ‘Neck dissection’ is often used to prevent the spread of cancer to the lymph nodes of the neck, however this surgery can cause ‘shoulder syndrome’. This is defined as shoulder droop, ‘winged scapula’ (abnormal protruding of the shoulder blades), an inability to shrug and ...

The studies in this review focused on patients with cancers in the oral cavity. These studies have not shown that surgery to remove the lymph nodes in the neck, which appear to be cancer-free, at the same time as the cancer is removed is associated with longer survival, but there is evidence that early neck surgery reduces recurrence of the cancer. ...