Study Shows Options for Cancer Patients

(08/06/07 -- DURHAM) (WTVD) -- Returning to work after cancer treatment can be a very tough decision and a new study shows it's harder for head and neck cancer patients.

Jerry Moss lives with a patch of skin covering an artery from his arm on his neck. It covers a hole left after treatment for stage-four neck cancer. "15 years ago they couldn't have done what they did," Jerry tell Eyewitness News reporter, Amber Rupinta.

In March, Duke's Dr. Richard Scher performed the 10-hour surgery to remove tumors, and reconstruct Jerry's face and neck.

"If we had left him the way he was his face is really drawn in so the reconstruction has really helped him a lot," Dr. Scher said.

It could also help him have higher odds of returning to work, according to a new study. Researchers found patients with head and neck cancer are the least likely to go back to work compared to other types of cancer. Things like fatigue, speech problems, difficulty eating and appearance are common complaints - but doctors are working to change that by making reconstruction part of the treatment plan. "He had what's called a microvascular free flap reconstruction," Scher said. "So thats where we take a piece of body from the arm and leg/skin and muscle and take the blood vessels with it and reattach it in the neck somewhere and reconstruct the face neck or jaw bones."

Dr. Scher says before the surgery, Jerry couldn't swallow. "You couldn't understand him at all, his speech was terribly altered."

Now Jerry's speech is much better. "I wasn't expecting it to be this good," Jerry said. He's also trying to rehabilitate his arm, weakened by the surgery so he can go back to being a machinist.

Doctors say the reconstruction of head and neck cancer patients is just as important now as the treatment. The goal is not only to get them cancer free, but to also have them return to their previous lifestyle including work.

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