SPOHNC Newsletter

News from SPOHNC is a newsletter for cancer survivors, family, friends and health professionals. Timely articles help to increase awareness of the many ongoing issues related to oral and head and neck cancer while offering information, support and encouragement.

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Featured SPOHNC Articles

Jessica McDermott, MD

Head and Neck Cancer Pain: Opioid Use and Alternatives

Written by: Jessica McDermott, MD

Introduction Anyone who currently has or who has survived head and neck squamous cell cancer (HNSCC) can tell you that the cancer itself and the treatment involved can cause significant pain. The location of the tumors as well as the ...

Young Man Undergoing Acupuncture Treatment In Salon, Closeup

Acupuncture Following Head and Neck Cancer Treatment

Written by: Richard C. Niemtzow, MD, PhD, MPH

Xerostomia Xerostomia or dry mouth is caused by a disturbance of the salivary glands. This is especially prevalent among head and neck oncology patients who have experienced chemotherapy, radiation and surgery for their head and neck malignancy. Cancer therapy can ...

Thyroid Function Examination

Potential Side Effects of Immunotherapy in Head and Neck Cancer

Written by: Dan Zandberg, MD

Introduction Currently, two immunotherapy medications, Nivolumab (Opdivo) and Pembrolizumab (Keytruda) are approved in the USA for recurrent and or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of head and neck (HNSCC) after a patient received and failed “platinum” based chemotherapy. Both Nivolumab and ...

doctor explaining diagnosis to his female patient

Why Are Clinical Trials Important?

Written by: Robert L. Ferris, MD, PhD

Clinical trials are a key research tool for advancing medical knowledge and patient care. Clinical research is done only if doctors do not know whether a new approach works well in people and is safe and which treatments or strategies ...

Friendly female doctor hands holding patient hand sitting at the desk for encouragement

Cure is Not Enough: Why Survivorship Matters for Head and Neck Cancer Patients

Written by: Liza Murray, APRN & Allen M. Chen, MD

What is cancer survivorship? Survivorship focuses on the health and life of a person with cancer from initiation of treatment until the end of life. It covers the physical, psychosocial and economic issues of cancer, beyond the diagnosis and treatment ...

Senior man and woman sleeping

Head and Neck Cancer Survivorship Part II: Other Essentials

Written by: Liza Murray, APRN & Allen M. Chen, MD

We’re back! We’d like to expand on our survivorship topics from September’s newsletter and highlight more survivorship challenges for head and neck cancer patients. We appreciate the feedback and insight from our part I article. We know that many survivors ...

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