Head and neck cancers, including those found on the underside of the brain or skull base, represent only 3 percent of all cancers in the United States. Not every center can treat these rare cancers. They require highly specialized expertise and treatment. That’s exactly what you get at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, Illinois. Rush is home to Chicago’s most comprehensive — and compassionate — program for people with head and neck cancer.

At Rush, we help patients explore their options. Unlike many hospitals, we can offer a range of tissue-sparing alternatives to surgery, and if surgery is needed, our nationally renowned surgeons offer minimally invasive options. Innovative treatment plans often include intensity-modulated radiation therapy and chemotherapy. This is often the best approach for many patients, even those with advanced or difficult-to-treat cancers.

To detect and treat cancer as well as check for recurrence, Rush doctors use the most advanced technology available. In fact, Rush was the first hospital in Chicago to use a PET scan, the most accurate way to diagnose head and neck cancer and monitor the effectiveness of therapy. For treatment, Rush has been a pioneer in using chemotherapy combined with radiation. Besides the latest chemotherapy regimens, Rush also offers the latest radiation treatments, including:

• Three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy. Using CT or MRI scans, doctors can visualize tumors better than with standard radiation. With this picture, they can shape multiple beams of radiation to fit the size and shape of a tumor.

• Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), the newest generation of three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy, allowing doctors to modify and tailor radiation doses more than ever before.

• Brachytherapy. During this procedure, doctors implant radioactive “seeds” near the cancer site to deliver the treatment directly to the tumor.

• Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS). This highly specialized treatment can deliver narrow beams of high-dose radiation to a specific area in the head or neck, while minimizing radiation to surrounding normal tissue.

• Sentinel lymph node biopsy. This procedure involves injecting a dye and/or radioactive substance near the tumor. This injection helps to locate the lymph node node closest to the tumor (sentinel node) — the one that is most likely to have cancer cells present if the cancer has spread. It is especially useful in diagnosing and staging head and neck cancers, especially cancers of the tongue and mouth.

At Rush, cancer surgery is performed in the most minimally invasive, tissue-sparing manner possible and offers the latest options including:

• Minimally invasive head and neck surgery is a highly specialized technique for evaluating, diagnosing and treating benign or cancerous growths located within the head and neck using special instruments inserted through the nose (trans-nasally) and mouth (trans-orally). Traditional head and neck surgery can involve removal of portions of the face and neck musculature to access the area needing treatment. The benefits of minimally invasive head and neck surgery include less risk of infection and damage to facial nerves and muscles, less risk of disfigurement and a shorter recovery time.

• Skull base surgery. Using special instruments, highly trained surgeons can access the underside of the brain to reach tumors that may have formerly been termed “inoperable.” Skull base surgery is minimally invasive as surgeons access the area needing treatment through the skull’s natural openings, the mouth (trans-oral), the nose (trans-nasal) and above the eye (supra-orbital).

• Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS). This highly specialized treatment can deliver narrow beams of high-dose radiation to a specific area in the head or neck, while minimizing radiation to surrounding normal tissue.

When patients come to the Coleman Foundation Head & Neck Cancer Center at Rush, they meet with a surgeon, a medical oncologist and a radiation oncologist. The team works with each patient to create an individualized care plan.

Rehabilitation is an important part of this plan, and at Rush, dedicated speech and language therapists have special expertise in caring for head and neck cancer patients. At any time before, during or after treatment, a psychologist is available for emotional support and guidance. Following treatment, patients return to the center for comprehensive follow-up care. If re-treatment is needed, Rush offers many options unavailable at other hospitals.

The Head & Neck Cancer Team

Nurse Coordinator

• Mary Ellen Hand, MSN, RN

Head and Neck Surgery

• Thomas Nielsen, MD
• Guy Petruzzelli, MD, PhD

Medical Oncology

• John Showel, MD

Radiation Oncology

• Joy Coleman, MD
• Katherine Griem, MD

Speech Pathology

• Mary Bacon