Should I Start To Eliminate Body Parts? B.O.T. Patient

Hello everyone,

I am 5 days away from completing radiation for base of tongue cancer. 2008 has been a hard year, initial finding of the neck lump, neck discretion and biopsy to find the primary. I’ve read messages every day on this board and have found them so helpful, and used a lot of them as questions for my doctors.

This is a question I could not find any information about. TEETH. Mine have done fine through radiation but like all of us, I am scared of another primary site being found days, weeks, months, years from now. Have any of you been told to have molars removed to make sure that there is less possibility of  oral cancer ? Even with check ups every six months once the dentist spots a problem it is already there. How about your tonsils, anyone elect to have them taken out?

Maybe I am feeling that the more spots I can eliminate to develop problems in the future are worth the sacrifice, because I don’t know that I can go through this again. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Best of all, D.

Although I really can't answer your question based on your type of cancer, I can certainly understand your thought process. 

My husband has Melanoma, he also has many, many moles.  It was my thought that he should have them all removed.  To me, this would give him a greater chance of keeping the Melanoma from surfacing in another area.  That just made perfect sense to me. Our onc. tried to explain it to us like this.... Melanoma cancer is abnormal cells.  The moles are like "windows" to those cells.  As with all cancers, the quicker you catch it, the better your survival rate is.  With Melanoma it is better to watch for changes in the moles then to have the abnormal cells mucking about under the surface of the skin where we can't see it, until it has surfaced and possibly spread through the lymph system.  Which does not mean that the Melanoma can't / hasn't spread even now - it just tips the scales a bit on our side.  I'll take every little bit I can get.

I don't know if this has helped or not - but I totally understand how you feel, and just wanted you to know. 

I havent heard of any benefit to removing things in advance. I think that once you have been through radiation and/or chemo the best thing is to leave well enough alone. Any such procedure will leave an opening in your body's defenses, from my point of view.

I had teeth removed because they didnt want any possible extractions after I had started treatment just for that reason.

I think you are best off recovering as quickly as possible from your cancer and treatment and keeping yourself as healthy as possible.

Best wishes,

Mike

Hi D,

I wouldn't mess with the teeth. If they didn't take them out prior to treatment I would leave them there but be meticulous in their care. In fact, you may not be able to find a dentist that would extract them for you now. The problem is called radiation osteonecrosis. Basically it is the death of bone caused by the radiation treatment. There are little "cells" (for lack of a better word) that rebuild bone and teeth when they are damaged, as in tooth extraction. The radiation kills those "cells" which means the bone (jaw and teeth) will not rebuild and heal. Then you have major problems. My dentist says he doesn't even want to talk to me about the possibilities but he says they would be "dire". 

I really don't think that removing body parts will reduce the chance of SCC coming back. Since you have squamous cells all over the place you can't eliminate all of them.  Even if you had your tonsils removed a cancer can start in the place where the tonsils used to be or anywhere else in your mouth. Same with the molars. You just have to be vigilant with your self-examinations and doctor appointments and try not to let anything slip passed the goalie.

Good Luck,

Joe 

Ditto w/ Mike and Joe.

Rick