Talk:Head and neck cancer

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[edit] Merge

Head and neck cancer already exists, the editor simply misspelled the name cancer as "caner" Emt147 25 March 2006

Mergering Throat cancer with this might be a good idea, but it would be difficult as Head and neck cancer is written (what there is of it) in a classification fashion and throat cancer is written in a more general informational style. Luxomni 17:57, 9 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] March 1, 2007 additions

If anybody starts deleting my edits, I will laugh. This article was in pretty rough shape before tonight. I have spent three hours redacting, adding references, and learning. There is still a lot of work to be done, but I think this article has the potential to be a huge resource to patients and their families.--Dr.michael.benjamin 08:04, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Larynx should be separate from Hypopharynx

At the moment these two are classified in the same paragraph. From a H&N oncology P.O.V. they are classified differantly. These two sites are also regarded as distinct in the UICC classification. There are significant differences in teatment and prognosis. Early laryngeal cancer only rarely spreads to local cervical nodes, whereas this happens more often in hypopharyngeal csncer. The lyphatic drainage of the true vocal cords is very poor indeed. In addition, early glottic cancer is probably the most common H&N malignancy presenting in the Western world. It has an excellent prognosis. The outlook for hypopharyngeal cancers is much less good.Jellytussle 07:55, 6 June 2007 (UTC)

Agreed. Done. -RustavoTalk/Contribs 18:18, 6 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Proposed merge of Throat cancer into this page

The page throat cancer is currently a confusing mish-mash of information about Head and neck cancer and Esophageal cancer, which are distinct classes of cancer, with very different subclassification, etiology, treatment, and prognosis. Throat cancer is largely unreferenced, but has a nice image and some accurate information that (when referenced) could improve this article as well as some parts appropriate for Esophageal cancer. I propose we reduce the page Throat cancer to a disambiguation page with only enough information as is necessary to direct the casual reader to head and neck cancer, esophageal cancer, nasopharyngeal carcinoma etc. -RustavoTalk/Contribs 18:33, 6 June 2007 (UTC)

I agree. There is nothing in the Throat cancer page which has not been stated better, or in more detail on other pages. It is a complete mongrel at present, and could really be deleted without any loss. the radiotherapy discussion is woeful. The picture of the immobilisation mask is good, but replaceable.Jellytussle 20:37, 6 June 2007 (UTC)

OK, I went ahead and merged. There are substantial amounts of redundant or poorly written material that need to be worked on though. I'll get to it over time. -RustavoTalk/Contribs 03:51, 17 June 2007 (UTC)

I removed a reference to Oral Sex as a risk factor for Graham Chapman. While technically true, I thought it was both misleading and, perhaps, bigoted. The reference made it appear that Oral sex ranked equally among alchohol and tobacco use as risk factors for Chapman. This was a guy who smoked a pipe for many years and was an alchoholic for many as well. Clearly these factors put him far more at risk than most people. On the other hand it really isn't clear that Chapman engaged in some extraordianry amount of oral sex. Did Sammy Davis Jr. have oral sex? I'm really not sure, but it isn't mentioned as a contributing cause to his cancer. As far as I can tell the reference in Chapman's case seems to be a thin allusion to his homosexuality. The discussion earlier on HPV covers the ground fine, I don't really see the reason to bring it up again in an unproveable claim.

Agree with the above comments. That whole section needs editing for content (arguably the celebrity aspect is irrelevant, and also incomplete: where is George Harrison, or Frederick the Great?) and style (second person) Suggest delete entire final celeb paragraph.Jellytussle 08:12, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] "Throat" cancer

Can we avoid using this term when editing? It is non-specific, and not useful in a detailed article on H&N cancer. Whilst some might term laryngeal (glottic) cancer as throat cancer, it certainly does not apply to cancers of the nasopharynx, tongue base, oral cavity, salivary glands, paranasal sinuses etc. Jellytussle 12:39, 18 July 2007 (UTC)