{"id":174452,"date":"2021-06-23T13:19:32","date_gmt":"2021-06-23T17:19:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=174452"},"modified":"2023-06-27T12:50:07","modified_gmt":"2023-06-27T16:50:07","slug":"a-multidisciplinary-approach-to-surviving-head-and-neck-cancer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2021\/06\/a-multidisciplinary-approach-to-surviving-head-and-neck-cancer\/","title":{"rendered":"A Multidisciplinary Approach to Surviving Head and Neck Cancer"},"content":{"rendered":"

On the first morning of Tiffany Patchell\u2019s visit with her dad in Texas in late 2018, she awoke with what felt like a horrible ear infection. Upon returning to Connecticut several days later she visited an urgent care clinic where she was diagnosed with an ear infection and prescribed antibiotics.\u00a0 Her ear continued to bother her and she followed up every few months at the urgent care.\u00a0 The pain then started to extend from her right ear to the right side of her throat and she couldn\u2019t swallow without feeling pain or burning.<\/p>\n

She found a new Primary Care Practitioner in March of 2020 who sent her for a CAT scan of the neck. The evening after her CAT scan, she was informed by her physician that she has a tumor growing in the base of her tongue.\u00a0 She was directed to Dr. Jeffrey Spiro<\/a>, an otolaryngologist who co-directs the head and neck cancer and oral oncology program in the Carole and Ray Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center<\/a> at UConn Health <\/a>and specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of head and neck cancer. Patchell was ultimately diagnosed with the high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) associated with oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma in April of 2020.<\/p>\n

Oropharyngeal cancer arises in the part of the throat that includes both the tonsils and similar tissue located in the base (back portion) of the tongue. Symptoms can include a persistent sore throat or a painless lump in the neck or earaches. Because the symptoms of oropharyngeal cancer can be non-specific, there may be a significant delay before patients are referred to a specialist.\u00a0 While tobacco and alcohol are major risk factors for mouth and throat cancer, high-risk HPV now causes at least 70% of oropharyngeal cancers.<\/p>\n

Oropharyngeal cancer can be treated successfully by surgery alone if diagnosed early but patients are typically diagnosed when it is locally advanced requiring a combination of radiation therapy and chemotherapy (drug treatments). Patchell met with Dr. Robert Dowsett<\/a>, chief of UConn\u2019s Division of Radiation Oncology, and Dr. Upendra Hegde<\/a>, a lead medical oncologist treating melanoma and head and neck cancer and co-director of head and neck cancer and oral oncology program at the Carole and Ray Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center. Given the location and extent of her cancer, Patchell was treated with up-front systemic chemotherapy followed by radiation and chemotherapy combination.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Tiffany Patchell<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ms. Patchell underwent three rounds of chemotherapy and 35 radiation treatments, five days a week for seven weeks, at the Cancer Center.\u00a0 \u201cGoing into radiation every day was hard, but they were always so welcoming and telling me it will be ok eventually,\u201d says Patchell. \u201cI just can\u2019t believe how nice the entire team was.\u201d Treatment of advanced head and neck cancer requires close collaborations between several health care services and providers such as nurses, nurse practitioners, speech therapists, dental surgeons, pain and palliative care nurses, nutritionists, and social workers \u2013 truly a multidisciplinary team effort.<\/p>\n

Last September Ms. Patchell was told that she was cancer-free.<\/p>\n

Like many cancer survivors, Patchell struggles with trying to live the \u201cnew\u201d me.\u00a0 She looks different sounds different and feels different although she can\u2019t put into words why or how she feels.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know medically I am okay, but I still feel anxious that the cancer may come back,\u201d says Patchell.<\/p>\n

\u201cI also struggle with the looks of pity I receive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Patchell met with the cancer survivor program members, a post-cancer treatment team at the Cancer Center who provide services to help patients adjust to cancer survivorship.\u00a0 Patients meet with nurse practitioners who review a personalized treatment summary and survivorship care plan to provide a clear follow-up plan for surveillance, information on managing physical symptoms or emotional distress, and health maintenance recommendations.\u00a0 Social workers help patients adjust to their \u201cnew normal\u201d by addressing the social, emotional, and spiritual impact that cancer has had and may continue to have on their lives. They provide patients with resources to overcome barriers and challenges. Patients also work with a registered dietician to create individualized counseling to address the unique nutrition concerns of the cancer survivor and physical therapists who provide guidance for exercise plans based on a survivor’s needs and personal preferences by assessing their strength and range of motion and making referrals to specialty care for ongoing therapy.<\/p>\n

\u201cOverall, the whole UConn team made me feel like family,\u201d says Patchell. \u201cThey all were so caring and nice and truly cared about me and my well-being.\u00a0 I almost miss going there all the time and seeing everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her experience has made her more patient and understanding as well as calmer.\u00a0 She almost feels like a happier person now and is more grateful.\u00a0 She has a great support system of family and friends who are there for her and help her through her survivorship.<\/p>\n

As noted, Patchell\u2019s oropharyngeal cancer was caused by the high-risk human papillomavirus and this type of cancer can be prevented by timely vaccination against HPV.\u00a0 The HPV vaccine is recommended for individuals 9-26 years old and is most effective when given at ages 11-12.\u00a0 Unvaccinated men and women ages 27\u201345 can also talk to their doctor about the benefits of the vaccine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Treatment of advanced head and neck cancer requires close collaborations between several health care services. The team at the Carole and Ray Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center provides a multidisciplinary approach that provides better outcomes. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":139,"featured_media":174453,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2230,179],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2209],"class_list":["post-174452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cancer","category-uconn-health"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-23 06:18:08","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/139"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=174452"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174452\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":174470,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174452\/revisions\/174470"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/174453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=174452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=174452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=174452"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=174452"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=174452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}