Treatment
You usually have follow up appointments to check how you are. And to see whether you have any problems or worries. The appointments also give you the chance to raise any concerns you have about your progress.
Generally, people with head and neck cancers are followed up for a minimum of 5 years. This may depend on your type of cancer. Some people may have follow up appointments for life.
You might have follow ups every 2 months during the first 2 years. Then every 3 to 6 months in the years after that.
If you are worried or notice any new symptoms between appointments, you must let your doctor know as soon as possible. You don't have to wait until your next appointment.
You will have regular check ups after treatment. It is very important with head and neck cancers to make sure the cancer has not come back, or a new cancer hasn't developed.
People who have had a head and neck cancer are sometimes more at risk of developing a new (second) cancer.
Your check ups may include:
a physical examination
endoscopy
blood tests
x-rays
CT or MRI scan
ultrasound scans
regular dental check ups
If you had external radiotherapy to your neck, your doctor would do regular blood tests to check your thyroid hormone levels. Up to 50 in 100 people (50%) treated with external radiotherapy to the neck will develop low thyroid hormone levels (hypothyroidism). This can cause chronic tiredness.
Your doctor may also use blood tests to see if your treatment has affected your pituitary gland. Your pituitary gland is in your brain and controls many functions of the body by producing chemical messengers (hormones).
You will not have all of these tests at every visit to your specialist. But your doctor will probably examine you at each appointment.
Your doctor will ask how you are feeling, whether you have had any new symptoms or are worried about anything. If you do have any new symptoms, your doctor may suggest a scan to make sure all is well.
If everything is going well, you will not have frequent follow up scans. They are unlikely to provide any new information to you or your doctor. Where there could be changes that cannot be seen by your doctor, for example, in the brain, scans may form part of your routine follow up. Your team will organise them when appropriate.
You may have a yearly chest x-ray to check that there isn't any spread to your lungs.
You may need to go back to hospital to see the speech and language therapist if you have had any changes to your speech. Your cancer specialist or nurse specialist will arrange this when you attend the outpatient clinic.
Let your specialist nurse know in advance if you'd like to see the speech and language therapist on the same day as your follow up appointment.
If the treatment has affected your eyes or eyesight, you are likely to need regular check ups.
Your cancer specialist (oncologist) or eye specialist (ophthalmologist) will recommend how often this should be.
Read more about changes to your sight
If you are a smoker and continue to smoke following your treatment for any head and neck cancer, your doctor is very likely to try and convince you to give up.
Continuing to smoke can reduce the effectiveness of your treatment. It also increases the risk of another cancer developing. It can also make the side effects of treatment more severe.
Giving up smoking can be very difficult, especially if you have smoked for a long time. But giving up will have many benefits for you.
Your cancer specialist, specialist nurse or GP can give you advice and support.
Read about how to stop smoking
Contact your doctor or specialist nurse if you have any concerns between appointments. You should also contact them if you notice any new symptoms. You don’t have to wait until your next visit.
Many people find their follow up appointments quite worrying. A hospital appointment can bring back any anxiety you had about your cancer.
It can help to tell someone close to you how you’re feeling. Sharing your worries can mean they don’t seem so overwhelming. Many people find it helpful to have counselling during or after cancer treatment.
Read about counselling and how to find a counsellor
You can also find people to share experiences with by using our online forum, CancerChat.
Last reviewed: 19 Jan 2024
Next review due: 19 Jan 2027
Surgery alone will cure some types of nasal and paranasal sinus cancers, but others will respond better to a combination of treatments.
Cancer can start in the lining of the space behind the nose (nasal cavity) or the nearby air cavities (paranasal sinuses) and sometimes spread to lymph nodes and rarely other parts of the body.
There is support available during and after treatment to help you cope. This includes support from your clinical nurse specialist, cancer charities, community services, and family and friends.
Chemotherapy uses anti cancer (cytotoxic) drugs to destroy cancer cells. You might have chemotherapy on its own or with radiotherapy (chemoradiotherapy) for nasal and paranasal sinus cancer.
Radiotherapy uses high energy x-rays to destroy cancer cells. You usually have a type of external radiotherapy called intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT).
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