The Harvard medical community has come together to create a program that meets the needs of patients with cancers of the head and neck and their referring physicians. As the region's most comprehensive multidisciplinary service dedicated exclusively to patients with head and neck cancers, the program offers:
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Program Nurse Mary Ann Case demonstrates an instrument for UMass Boston nursing students Nathalie Gautier and David Mannke.
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Specialists in the program evaluate and treat all types and stages of head and neck cancers, from the earliest lesions to the rarest and most challenging cases, such as:
 Cancers
of the head and neck: larynx, oral cavity, nasopharynx,
pharynx, paranasal sinuses, thyroid, and salivary glands |
| Cutaneous
malignances and periorbital tumors |
The unique collaboration among institutions participating in the Harvard Head and Neck Oncology, each of which is renowned for its excellence in patient care and research, ensures that patients and referring physicians have convenient access to the combined experience and expertise of a network of specialists and researchers throughout the Harvard medical community. The program's highly experience clinicians represent numerous specialties including:
| Head and
Neck Surgery |
Medical
Oncology |
Radiation
Oncology |
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| Dentistry
|
Oral
Surgery |
Reconstructive
Surgery |
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| Nutrition
Services |
Social
Services |
Speech,
Voice, and Swallowing Therapy |
Beginning with the initial consultation, a team of specialists works with the patient and their local physician to create a comprehensive treatment plan that is tailored to the patient's unique needs to achieve the best possible outcome. The team also coordinates all aspects of care to ensure that the patient's needs are met. A range of comprehensive services is available from second opinions to the latest, most complex treatments, including:
| One-time
consultation & assessment |
Second
opinion |
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| Single-specialty
evaluation & treatment |
Prevention
counseling |
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| Risk
assessment |
Genetic
counseling |
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| Surgery |
Proton-beam
therapy |
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| Radiation
therapy |
Biologic
& immunologic therapies |
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| Chemotherapy |
Functional
rehabilitation |
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| Brachytherapy |
Reconstructive
therapy |
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| IMRT |
Speech and swallow therapy |
||
| Hyperbaric
oxygen therapy |
Stereotactic
radiation therapy |
The creation of new and better ways to treat cancers of the head and neck is one of the program's most important goals. As a result, program staff meet weekly to evaluate patient profiles, review treatment plans, and discuss new developments in clinical and basic research. The close relationship among the program's participating institutions ensures that the latest research findings are translated into clinical results and practice-management guidelines as quickly as possible.
Physicians and researchers within the program have already broken new ground in improving the efficacy of treatment while retaining function and appearance. These initiatives have led to advances in areas such as:
| the use
of chemotherapy and radiation with limited surgery to
preserve speech or swallowing (organ preservation) |
| hyperfractionated
radiation therapy |
| tissue
transfers |
| cranial-base
imaging and surgery |
| PET
scanning |
| gene
therapy |
Patients have access not only to studies developed by researchers within the Harvard Head and Neck Oncology Program, but also to those developed by specialists at other U.S. medical lefts through national collaborative groups.