Each year, about 40,000 people are diagnosed with a cancer of the head and neck - that part of the body that includes the mouth, nose, sinuses, ears, throat and neck. Head and neck cancers are life-threatening, complex diseases that can best be treated by a team of specialists in an advanced practice setting.

“Although the number of people who develop theses cancers is not huge, these diseases are often devastating,” said Dr. Clarence Sasaki, chief of otolaryngology at Yale-New Haven and the Charles W. Ohse Professor of Surgery at the Yale University School of Medicine. “Speech makes us unique as humans, and our faces are the signature of our individuality. Head and neck cancer attacks both.”

The Head and Neck Cancer Program at Yale-New Haven Hospital is in the vanguard for the techniques it has developed and introduced to treat people with head and neck cancers. Reconstructive surgeons perform surgeries that enable patients to continue to eat, swallow, speak and interact with others - without debilitating facial deformities that can result when cancerous tissue is removed.

“Many of the advances that have been introduced or developed at Yale-New Haven contribute to patient comfort and lifestyle,” said Dr. Sasaki.

One of several pioneering approaches to head and neck cancer developed at YNHH, sentinel node radiolocalization, is a minimally invasive technique that makes it possible to examine a patient’s lymph nodes - the part of the neck where cancer is most likely to spread - to determine what type of neck surgery, if any, is needed.

“Our primary goal is still eliminating the cancer, of course, but also we’re focusing on the quality of life by preserving swallowing and speaking functions and minimizing disfigurement,” said Dr. Sasaki.

A new issue of a Yale-New Haven publication, Ahead of the Curve, highlights the latest advancements available at the hospital’s Head and Neck Cancer Program which includes diagnosis, treatment, reconstruction, psychosocial support, pain management, rehabilitation and assistance in returning to life after cancer. To obtain a free copy of Ahead of the Curve or to learn more about the health care advances at the Head and Neck Cancer Program at YNHH, please call (203) 688.2000 or toll free 1.888.700.6543 or visit the Head and Neck Cancer Program

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