Tongue cancer survivors experience significant variation in physical and emotional pain during diagnosis and treatment, according to a study to be presented next month at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery in San Francisco.
Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania Health System conducted open-ended interviews with tongue cancer survivors from a single surgical practice at a tertiary care center. The study included 16 patients, ages 30 to 80 years, with stage II to IV disease; all but one underwent surgery as primary treatment.
The researchers conducted interviews at three months to 12 years after treatment. Patients described variable levels of physical pain throughout their experience, but particularly during radiotherapy, when it was severe. Patients' emotional distress was most pronounced at the time of diagnosis; few described sustained emotional distress.
Concerns about altered speech, taste, swallowing, and dry mouth persisted, while changed appearance and social isolation were rarely reported. Interestingly, the majority of patients focused on pervasive dry mouth sensation, regardless of radiotherapy treatment.
"Our findings describe significant variation in physical and emotional pain during disease diagnosis and treatment, with persistent concerns regarding disrupted speech, taste, and swallowing function," the researchers noted.
Further research should focus more specifically on these experiences and their causal relationships, they concluded.
