Refining Cancer Treatments To Reduce Potential Nerve Damage

While radiation treatments deliver precise doses of high-energy X-rays to stop cancer cells from spreading or to shrink tumors, oncologists have become increasingly concerned about inadvertent exposures during head and neck cancer treatments to nerves responsible for upper body mobility. To reduce the possibility of permanent nerve damage, UC Davis Cancer Center researchers have taken the lead in establishing new treatment guidelines for physicians nationwide.

The team, led by Allen Chen, assistant professor of radiation oncology, noticed a trend following treatment for cancers of the tonsil, tongue, throat, and other head and neck organs: A number of patients reported ongoing weakness and sensation problems in their necks, shoulders and upper arms. Chen recognized that these symptoms could be attributed to injury of the brachial plexus nerves, which begin at the back of the neck and extend behind the clavicle and down to the hand. Specific standards for delivering radiation treatments and avoiding this critical body structure, however, did not exist.

source: Medical News Today