Treatments


At Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, each cancer has a wide range of treatments that can be used alone or in combination to give the best outcome for your specific cancer, including standard therapies and novel therapies only available in clinical trials. That’s why careful diagnosis is so important.

Head & Neck/Airway Multidisciplinary Clinic: This outpatient unit serves patients with different head and neck or airway problems as a result of their cancer or the treatment. Several specialties, including head and neck surgery, radiation oncology, head and neck medical oncology, otolaryngology, endocrinology, pulmonology, and speech pathology can all see you there. 

Part of the clinic is a support group for people learning to speak again after laryngectomy. Having the understanding and compassion of a caring staff and other people who understand greatly improves your progress back to a full life.  

Radiation therapy  is the primary way to treat oropharyngeal cancers. Sometimes, surgery is the main treatment (instead of radiation therapy). Decisions are based on your exact case and diagnosis. 

  • Surgery

    The goal of surgery is to take out a tumor from the head and neck region and remove lymph nodes if cancer has spread to them. The smaller the tumor, the higher the chance of minimizing its impact on speaking, swallowing, and other parts of daily living.

    • Transoral Robotic-Assisted Surgery: This technique is helpful for tumors of the tonsils and tongue base. It is performed using a powerful microscope and robotic tools. There are no external incisions. Our surgeons perform the surgery with tiny instruments and a very thin scope. The scope is inserted through your mouth. If lymph nodes are involved, a separate neck incision may be required. Transoral robotic surgery can eliminate any need for chemotherapy after surgery. Radiation therapy may be used after the procedure, based on the surgical results.

    • Reconstructive Surgery: Sometimes, head and neck surgeries can cause substantial cosmetic changes. Your Sylvester head and neck experts will plan before any treatment starts for both the cancer removal and any bone or tissue reconstruction.

      • Often these reconstructive procedures can utilize small pieces of tissue, skin or bone from your own body for a more natural look and feel — such as from your lower leg, shoulder blade, chest, forearm and other areas.

      • Another option is to develop a prosthesis (artificial replacement). Sylvester's head and neck cancer team will collaborate with our prosthodontist. Prosthodontists are dentists who specialize in making tooth and facial structure replacements.

      • Custom prosthetic facial parts also can be created for you when needed. These prosthetics are designed to blend into your face, head, and neck.

  • Radiation Therapy

    Small tumors may be treated with radiation therapy. Surgery is often offered afterward to destroy any remaining cancer. 

    Sylvester has one of the largest, most experienced, and most sophisticated head/neck cancer radiation sections in the nation. Radiation therapy uses highly targeted radiation beams. Radiation kills cancer cells and shrinks tumors. Chemotherapy or targeted therapy may be offered after or before a radiation therapy approach. Our techniques include: 

    • Oral Health Evaluation: An oral exam by a knowledgeable dentist helps us to identify any infection, fractured teeth, restorations, or periodontal disease. These issues could contribute to oral complications when cancer therapy begins.

    • Intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT):  IMRT is an advanced form of external beam radiation therapy. Our radiation specialists will focus the radiation doses to the exact three-dimensional shape of your tumor. The precise control and flexibility of IMRT can decrease any radiation going to surrounding healthy tissue. 

    • Radiosensitizing Treatment: In some cases, such as in cancers of the larynx (voice box) and oropharynx (middle of the throat), we may use chemotherapy and radiation therapy together to kill all the cancer cells. This can help reduce the need for surgery and preserve your voice box and/or throat structures.

  • Chemotherapy

    The high level of experience of Sylvester’s medical oncology team allows our physicians to choose and deliver the most advanced chemotherapy approaches, often before they become commonly used in the community. Your doctor may prescribe chemotherapy before or after surgery or will combine chemotherapy with radiation therapy to try and avoid surgery altogether. Most chemotherapy drugs used for head and neck patients don’t cause hair loss.  

    If you need intravenous (infusion) chemotherapy, you can have it at the Comprehensive Treatment Unit (CTU) at Sylvester’s main location in Miami, a 12,000-square-foot unit that includes 33 recliners and 11 private rooms. If you prefer, you may have your infusion treatments at the Deerfield Beach, Plantation, Hollywood, Coral Springs, Coral Gables, and Kendall locations.

  • Targeted Therapy 

    This treatment uses medicines that target specific parts of cancer cells. For example, a protein called EGFR may accelerate the growth of head and neck cancer cells. The most commonly used medicine that targets these cells is called cetuximab. It blocks EGFR, so the cancer cell growth  often slows or stops.