Why Does Cancer Treatment Sometimes Include a Neck Dissection? Lymph Node Spread Explained

The surgeon draws a line on the whiteboard, a gentle curve from below the ear to the collarbone, and says the word for the first time: neck dissection. The patient, who came in about a sore patch on the tongue that would not heal, has one reasonable reaction. The tongue is the problem. Why is anyone talking about the neck?

That question sits at the heart of how head and neck cancer is treated, and the honest answer is more interesting than most leaflets let on. It comes down to plumbing, probability, and a piece of information no scan can yet deliver with confidence. Understanding why neck dissection is needed, and why it is sometimes not, makes the conversation with the care team far less frightening.

This explainer walks through what lymph nodes do, how cancer uses them, what the operation actually involves, and what the weeks afterward tend to look like, using evidence rather than reassurance.

Why neck dissection is needed: the short version

Most cancers that begin in the mouth, throat, voice box, salivary glands, thyroid, or the skin of the head follow a predictable route when they spread. They do not scatter randomly. They travel along lymphatic channels, thin vessels that drain fluid from tissue, and arrive first at the lymph nodes of the neck. Those nodes act as filters, and cancer cells often lodge there and begin to grow.

This creates two problems for the treating team. The first is obvious: a node that contains cancer is a second site of disease, and leaving it alone means leaving cancer behind. The second is subtler and, in many cases, more important. A neck that looks and feels normal can still contain microscopic deposits of cancer. Clinicians call this occult metastasis, meaning spread that is present but hidden from examination and imaging.

A neck dissection, the surgical removal of a defined group of lymph nodes and the fatty tissue that surrounds them, addresses both problems at once. It removes disease that is already there, and it hands the pathologist tissue that can be examined under a microscope. What the pathologist finds then shapes almost everything that follows: whether radiation is recommended, whether chemotherapy is added, how closely follow-up needs to be scheduled.

Put plainly, the operation is often less about the lump you can feel and more about the information you cannot get any other way. Johns Hopkins Medicine describes it in these terms, as both treatment and staging, and that dual purpose explains why a surgeon may propose it even when every scan has come back clear.

What lymph nodes in the neck actually do

Picture the lymphatic system as the body’s secondary drainage network. Blood vessels deliver oxygen and nutrients; lymphatic vessels collect the fluid that leaks out of capillaries into tissue and return it to the bloodstream. Along the way, that fluid passes through lymph nodes, small bean-shaped structures packed with immune cells. The neck holds an unusually dense cluster of them, several hundred by most anatomical estimates, because the head contains so much tissue that needs draining: the scalp, face, mouth, tongue, throat, and the airway itself.

Nodes are where the immune system inspects what the fluid is carrying. Bacteria from a throat infection, for example, arrive in the nodes and trigger the swelling most people have felt under the jaw during a bad cold. The node enlarges because immune cells are multiplying inside it. That swelling is a sign of the system working.

Cancer cells that break away from a tumor and enter lymphatic channels are carried along the same route. Some are destroyed. Others survive, settle in the node, and divide. Over time the node itself becomes a tumor. If the cancer grows through the node’s capsule into surrounding tissue, pathologists describe this as extranodal extension, a finding that generally signals more aggressive disease and often changes the treatment plan.

Because the drainage pathways are so consistent, surgeons can predict which nodes a particular tumor is most likely to reach first. A cancer on the front of the tongue drains differently from one at the back of the throat or on the skin behind the ear. That predictability is what makes a targeted operation possible.

How cancer spreads through lymph nodes: the mechanism in plain language

Spread through the lymphatic system is not a single event but a sequence. A tumor first has to grow deep enough into tissue to encounter lymphatic vessels; superficial cancers rarely reach them. Cells then need to detach from the main tumor, survive the journey through the vessel, and establish themselves in the node. Each step filters out many cells, which is one reason a small tumor may never spread while a larger or deeper one frequently does.

Tumor thickness, or depth of invasion, turns out to be one of the strongest predictors of nodal spread in cancers of the mouth. This is why the staging systems used worldwide incorporate depth measured in millimeters, and why a surgeon may recommend treating the neck for a tumor that looks small on the surface but has grown deep beneath it. Mayo Clinic’s overview of mouth cancer treatment notes that lymph nodes are often removed when a tumor is large or has spread, and depth is part of that judgment.

Once cancer is established in a node, it tends to progress in an orderly fashion to the next group of nodes downstream. The first node or group to receive drainage from a tumor is called the sentinel node. Skipping several groups is uncommon, though not impossible, and that orderliness underpins both the design of selective neck dissections and the newer technique of sentinel node biopsy, discussed later.

Nodal spread matters because it is an early warning that cancer cells have learned to travel. It does not mean cancer has reached distant organs, and for most head and neck cancers the neck can be treated alongside the primary tumor with the aim of controlling the disease. It does raise the stakes of getting the treatment plan right the first time.

What actually happens during a neck dissection

The operation takes place under general anesthesia, often in the same sitting as removal of the primary tumor. The surgeon makes an incision along a natural skin crease in the neck, lifts the skin and the thin muscle layer beneath it, and exposes the anatomy below: the large jugular vein, the carotid artery, the muscle that runs from behind the ear to the collarbone, and the nerves threading between them.

The lymph nodes themselves are embedded in fat and connective tissue. Surgeons do not pick out individual nodes one by one. They remove the entire package of fatty tissue from a defined region, which carries the nodes within it. This is why the operation is described by the regions, or levels, cleared rather than by node count. The specimen is then oriented and labeled so the pathologist knows exactly where each part came from.

The surgeon’s central task is to remove that tissue completely while protecting the structures that must stay. The spinal accessory nerve, which controls the trapezius muscle that lifts the shoulder, runs directly through the field. So do the nerves that move the tongue, the lower lip, and the diaphragm, along with the vagus nerve and the sympathetic chain. Preserving them is the reason modern operations take longer than their historical predecessors.

At the end, a thin drain is usually placed to collect fluid from the space left behind, and the incision is closed. Johns Hopkins Medicine notes that the operation typically lasts a few hours, longer when combined with tumor removal or reconstruction. The patient wakes with a dressing, a drain, and a neck that feels tight and numb rather than sharply painful, an experience described in more detail in the recovery section below.

Selective neck dissection levels and types: what the names mean

Surgeons divide the neck into six levels, numbered with Roman numerals, based on landmarks such as the jawbone, the hyoid bone, and the collarbone. Level I sits under the chin and jaw; levels II, III, and IV run down the side of the neck along the jugular vein from top to bottom; level V covers the triangle at the back of the neck; level VI holds the nodes in front of the windpipe. A tumor’s location predicts which levels are at risk, and the operation is tailored accordingly.

Type of dissection	Levels usually removed	Structures typically preserved	Common situation
Radical	I through V	None of the three key structures (jugular vein, sternocleidomastoid muscle, accessory nerve) are kept	Extensive nodal disease invading these structures; now uncommon
Modified radical	I through V	One or more of the three key structures	Bulky disease where nerve or vein can safely be spared
Selective (for example supraomohyoid)	I through III, or II through IV, depending on tumor site	All three key structures	Clinically negative neck, or limited disease
Superselective	Two adjacent levels or fewer	All three key structures	Selected cases, often after chemoradiation
Central (level VI)	VI	Recurrent laryngeal nerves, parathyroid glands	Thyroid cancer

The trend over recent decades has run firmly toward doing less. The radical dissection, once standard, removed the jugular vein, the large neck muscle, and the accessory nerve together, and left many patients with a frozen, painful shoulder. Better understanding of drainage patterns showed that most patients never needed that much removed. Today a selective dissection that clears three levels and spares every major structure is the most common form, and the NHS describes the operation in exactly these terms: removal of the nodes most likely to be affected rather than the whole neck.

Elective neck dissection: why remove nodes that look normal?

This is the question that puzzles most patients, and it deserves a direct answer. When a neck is treated because cancer is already known to be in the nodes, the operation is called therapeutic. When it is treated despite normal examination and normal scans, it is called elective, and the logic rests on probability.

For cancers of the mouth in particular, imaging misses a meaningful share of nodal disease because microscopic deposits do not change a node’s size or shape. For decades surgeons argued about whether to operate on such necks or to watch and wait, treating only if a node later appeared. A randomized trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2015, indexed on PubMed, tested exactly this in early oral cancer with clinically negative necks. Patients assigned to elective dissection had better survival than those assigned to observation, and among those who had the operation, hidden nodal disease was found in roughly three in ten. In other words, nearly a third of necks that looked clean were not.

That trial changed practice for oral cancer, and most guidelines now favor treating the neck when the estimated risk of hidden spread crosses a threshold, often quoted around one in five. The threshold reflects a trade-off: below it, more patients would undergo an operation they did not need than would benefit.

Two cautions belong here. The evidence is strongest for oral cavity cancer; for other sites the balance may differ, and the treating team weighs tumor location, depth, and imaging together. Second, the alternative to elective dissection is not always observation. Sentinel node biopsy and elective radiation to the neck are both used in appropriate cases, and the next section explains who tends to be offered which.

Who is usually offered a neck dissection, and who is usually asked to wait

Broadly, three groups of patients are offered the operation. The first have nodes that are clearly involved on examination or imaging; for them the neck is part of the disease and is treated as such. The second have a clinically negative neck but a primary tumor whose site, size, or depth puts hidden spread above the risk threshold described above. The third have already had radiation or chemoradiation and either have residual disease in the neck afterward or, less commonly now, a planned operation to clear the neck regardless.

Patients are commonly asked to wait, or offered something other than surgery, in several situations. Very small, superficial tumors with a low risk of spread may be treated at the primary site alone with careful follow-up. Some patients with early mouth cancer are offered sentinel node biopsy, in which a tracer injected around the tumor identifies the first draining node, which is removed and examined; a full dissection follows only if that node contains cancer. This spares the majority, whose nodes are clear, a larger operation.

For cancers of the throat and voice box, radiation with or without chemotherapy is often the primary treatment, and the neck is treated with radiation at the same time. Surgery to the neck is then reserved for disease that persists on follow-up scans. Patients whose general health makes a long anesthetic unsafe may also be steered toward non-surgical treatment of the neck.

None of this is a formula. Tumor biology, imaging findings, the patient’s other conditions, and the patient’s own priorities all enter the discussion at a multidisciplinary meeting, where surgeons, oncologists, radiologists, and pathologists review the case together. The recommendation that emerges is a starting point for a conversation, not a verdict.

Can you live without lymph nodes in the neck?

Yes, and this is one of the most common worries that turns out to be well founded in principle but modest in practice. The body has hundreds of lymph nodes in the neck and many hundreds more elsewhere. A selective dissection removes the nodes from a few levels on one side. The remaining nodes on that side, the nodes on the other side, and the wider lymphatic network continue to filter fluid and host immune cells. Immunity does not depend on any particular cluster.

Where the loss does matter is drainage. Lymph nodes sit on the return route for tissue fluid, and removing a group of them, particularly when radiation has also scarred the area, can slow that return. The result is lymphedema, a persistent swelling caused by fluid the lymphatic system cannot clear quickly enough. In the head and neck it shows up as fullness under the chin and jaw, sometimes worse in the morning after lying flat overnight, and occasionally as swelling inside the throat that affects swallowing or voice.

MedlinePlus describes lymphedema as a chronic condition that can be managed but not fully reversed, with treatment centered on specialized massage, compression, exercise, and skin care. Not everyone who has a neck dissection develops it, and the risk is higher when both sides of the neck are treated or when surgery is combined with radiation. Lymphedema therapists who specialize in the head and neck can make a substantial difference to comfort and function, and asking for a referral early is reasonable.

The immune consequences are limited, though people who have had extensive treatment sometimes notice that infections on that side of the face or scalp are slower to settle. Reporting any redness, warmth, or spreading swelling promptly is sensible for that reason.

How serious is a neck dissection? Risks explained without drama

A neck dissection is major surgery in the sense that it involves a general anesthetic, dissection around vital blood vessels and nerves, and a hospital stay. It is not, for most patients, a dangerous operation. Serious complications are uncommon in experienced hands, and the risks that do occur are largely predictable, which means they can be discussed in advance.

The most talked-about risk is shoulder weakness from injury to the spinal accessory nerve. Even when the nerve is preserved, handling it during surgery can bruise it, producing temporary weakness in lifting the arm above shoulder height. Most of this recovers over weeks to months, and the NHS mouth cancer treatment pages specifically flag stiffness of the shoulder as a recognized effect that physiotherapy helps. Permanent weakness is more likely when the nerve has to be removed because cancer has grown around it.

Other nerves can be affected. The branch that controls the lower lip may be stretched, causing a slightly crooked smile that usually improves. Numbness of the skin over the neck and ear is nearly universal in the short term and often partial in the long term, because small sensory nerves in the skin are cut with the incision.

Less common problems include bleeding, infection, a leak of lymphatic fluid called a chyle leak (a milky fluid that sometimes escapes from a damaged lymphatic duct on the left side), and blood clots. Rarely, injury to the vagus nerve can affect voice or swallowing. Risks rise with the extent of the dissection, previous radiation, and the patient’s overall health, including smoking and diabetes.

The way to think about seriousness is not whether the operation is risky in isolation but whether its risks are outweighed by the risk of leaving cancer in the neck. For most patients offered the procedure, the treating team has already made that comparison and is prepared to explain it.

Neck dissection recovery time: what the first days and weeks usually look like

Waking after a neck dissection, most people are surprised by how little pain there is. Numbness dominates. The neck feels tight, as if wrapped in a firm collar, and turning the head is stiff rather than sharp. Pain relief is usually straightforward and managed by the ward team according to the patient’s needs.

The drain is the first milestone. It collects fluid from the surgical space and is removed once output falls, typically within the first few days. Johns Hopkins Medicine describes hospital stays after neck dissection alone as usually lasting a few days, longer when the operation is combined with tumor removal, reconstruction, or a temporary breathing tube. Patients are encouraged to walk early, both to reduce clot risk and to begin gentle neck and shoulder movement.

At home, the first two weeks are about wound care and mobility. The incision is kept clean and dry, and the care team will say when showering is fine. Tightness peaks and then slowly softens. Shoulder exercises, taught by a physiotherapist before discharge, matter enormously in this period; the muscles around a stiff shoulder shorten quickly if not moved, and a few minutes several times a day prevents a problem that can take months to undo.

Most people return to desk work within a few weeks and to heavier activity over the following one to two months, with the NHS and Johns Hopkins both framing full recovery in terms of weeks rather than days. Sensation and shoulder strength keep improving for many months. If radiation follows surgery, it usually begins once the wound has healed, and the fatigue and skin changes of that treatment overlap with late surgical recovery, which is worth planning for.

Planned or salvage: neck dissection after radiation and chemoradiation

For cancers of the throat, tonsil, and voice box, radiation combined with chemotherapy is often the main treatment, and it treats the neck at the same time. This raises a different version of the title question: if the neck has already been irradiated, why would anyone operate on it afterward?

Historically, many centers performed a planned neck dissection after chemoradiation for patients who started with bulky nodes, on the reasoning that radiation might not have destroyed every cell. Practice has shifted. Modern scanning, particularly PET-CT performed roughly three months after treatment, can distinguish reasonably well between a node that still contains active cancer and one that is simply scarred. Patients whose scans show no residual activity are now usually observed rather than operated on, and surgery is reserved for those with persistent or recurrent disease. Mayo Clinic’s treatment overviews describe this sequence for several head and neck cancer types.

When surgery is needed after radiation it is called a salvage neck dissection, and it is a more demanding operation. Irradiated tissue is stiffer, bleeds differently, and heals more slowly. Wound complications and lymphedema are more common. Surgeons often choose a superselective approach, clearing only the levels where disease persists, precisely because the tissue tolerates less.

Patients in this situation frequently ask whether the radiation failed. A more accurate framing is that radiation controls disease in the neck for most patients, and surgery is a second tool available for the minority in whom it does not. The two treatments are complementary rather than competing, which is why the same team plans both from the outset.

What people often get wrong about neck dissection

Several misconceptions come up again and again, and correcting them changes how people feel about the operation.

The first is that removing lymph nodes weakens the immune system in any general way. It does not. The immune system is distributed across the entire body, and the loss of a regional cluster does not increase susceptibility to colds, flu, or infections elsewhere. The realistic consequence is local: slower fluid drainage and a possibility of lymphedema.

The second is that finding cancer in a node means the disease is everywhere. Nodal spread is regional, not distant. It raises the stage and usually adds treatment, but it is a very different situation from cancer in the lungs or bones. Many patients with node-positive head and neck cancer are treated with the goal of long-term disease control.

The third is the reverse error: that clean scans mean a clean neck. The elective neck dissection evidence discussed earlier shows that this is not reliably true for oral cancers, and it is the whole reason the operation is sometimes recommended to people with no lump.

The fourth is that a neck dissection always means a frozen shoulder and a disfigured neck. That was true of the radical operation of past decades. Selective dissections spare the nerve and muscle, and while shoulder stiffness remains a recognized risk, it is far less severe and usually improves.

The fifth is that swelling in the neck after surgery signals the cancer has come back. Early swelling is almost always fluid, inflammation, or lymphedema. Recurrence is a real concern that follow-up is designed to catch, but it is not the first explanation for a puffy neck in the weeks after an operation.

What is the survival rate for patients with neck dissection?

People search this phrase constantly, and the honest answer is that a single number does not exist and would mislead if it did. Neck dissection is not a disease; it is an operation performed for many different cancers at many different stages. A patient with a small tongue cancer and no nodal spread, whose dissection is elective and finds nothing, has an entirely different outlook from a patient whose dissection removes several involved nodes with extranodal extension after radiation has failed. Averaging those two would tell neither of them anything useful.

What can be said is that the pathology report generated by the operation is one of the most powerful pieces of prognostic information available. The number of involved nodes, their size, whether cancer has broken through the node capsule, and whether the primary tumor was removed with a clear margin all feed into the formal stage. Staging systems used worldwide are built on exactly these findings, and the treating team uses them to estimate outlook and to decide whether additional treatment is recommended.

Published evidence does show that treating the neck matters. The randomized trial cited earlier found better survival with elective dissection than with observation in early oral cancer, which is why the operation is offered. That is a comparison between strategies within a trial population, not a promise to an individual.

The most useful conversation about outlook happens after the pathology report is back, with an oncologist who has the full picture. Asking directly, and asking what the numbers are based on, is reasonable and expected. Statistics describe groups; the care team’s job is to translate them, with appropriate caution, to one person.

Questions to ask your care team before a neck dissection

Good questions do two things: they surface information the team may have assumed you already knew, and they signal what matters most to you so the plan can bend toward it. The following are worth bringing to the consultation, written down, with someone alongside to take notes.

• Is this operation therapeutic, because you have found cancer in my nodes, or elective, because of the risk of hidden spread? What is that estimated risk based on?
• Which levels of my neck will be removed, and on one side or both? Will the accessory nerve, jugular vein, and neck muscle be preserved?
• Was sentinel node biopsy or radiation to the neck considered instead, and why was surgery preferred in my case?
• How will the findings change what happens next? What would lead to a recommendation for radiation or chemotherapy afterward?
• What should I expect for my shoulder, and when will I see a physiotherapist? Is head and neck lymphedema therapy available if I need it?
• How long is the hospital stay likely to be for my particular operation, and what will the first two weeks at home involve?
• Will the operation affect my swallowing, voice, or the movement of my lip or tongue, even temporarily?
• If I smoke or have diabetes, what can I do before surgery to lower my risk of complications?
• Who do I contact, day or night, if something worries me after discharge?

There is no such thing as a question that is too basic. Surgeons who perform this operation regularly have heard every version of every worry, and most would rather answer it in the clinic than have it fester at home.

When to call your doctor after a neck dissection

Most recovery is uneventful, and most symptoms in the first weeks are expected: numbness, tightness, mild swelling, a stiff shoulder, and a wound that looks bruised before it fades. A short list of signs, however, should prompt a same-day call to the surgical team or, when severe, emergency care.

• Rapidly increasing swelling of the neck, especially if it feels tense or is accompanied by difficulty breathing, noisy breathing, or trouble swallowing saliva. Sudden swelling can signal bleeding into the surgical space and needs urgent assessment.
• Fever, spreading redness, warmth, or foul-smelling discharge from the wound, which may indicate infection.
• Milky or cloudy fluid in the drain or leaking from the wound, particularly after eating, which can indicate a chyle leak.
• Sudden severe weakness or numbness on one side of the body, facial droop, slurred speech, or loss of vision, which are stroke warning signs and require emergency services immediately.
• Calf pain, swelling of one leg, chest pain, or sudden breathlessness, which can indicate a blood clot.
• Inability to eat or drink enough to stay hydrated, or persistent vomiting.
• New hoarseness, choking on liquids, or a change in voice that was not present immediately after surgery.

Beyond the recovery period, any new lump in the neck, a sore or ulcer in the mouth or throat that does not heal within a few weeks, unexplained ear pain on one side, or difficulty swallowing that develops months after treatment should be reported to the team rather than watched. Follow-up schedules exist precisely to catch these early, but symptoms between appointments should not wait for the next one. When in doubt, call; the team would far rather hear about a false alarm than miss a real one.

Frequently asked questions

Why is neck dissection needed if my scans are clear?

Because scans detect nodes that have changed in size or shape, and microscopic cancer deposits do not change either. For cancers of the mouth in particular, a meaningful share of necks that look normal contain hidden disease. When the estimated risk of hidden spread is high enough, guidelines favor treating the neck rather than waiting for a lump to appear, because a trial in early oral cancer showed better outcomes with that approach.

Can you live without lymph nodes in the neck?

Yes. The neck contains hundreds of lymph nodes, and a selective dissection removes only those in a few levels on one side. The immune system is spread throughout the body and continues to function normally. The main consequence is slower fluid drainage from the head and neck, which in some people causes lymphedema, a persistent swelling that can be managed with specialized therapy but does not affect overall immunity.

How long is recovery after neck dissection?

Hospital stays for neck dissection alone are usually a few days, longer if combined with tumor removal or reconstruction, according to patient guidance from Johns Hopkins Medicine. Most people return to light activity within a few weeks and heavier activity over one to two months. Numbness, tightness, and shoulder stiffness improve gradually over many months. These are typical ranges, not guarantees, and the care team will tailor expectations to the specific operation.

How serious is a neck dissection?

It is major surgery in the sense of a general anesthetic and dissection near vital structures, but serious complications are uncommon. The most frequent lasting effect is shoulder weakness or stiffness from handling of the accessory nerve, which usually improves. Less common risks include bleeding, infection, chyle leak, lymphedema, and nerve injury affecting the lip, tongue, or voice. The treating team weighs these against the risk of leaving cancer in the neck.

What is the survival rate for patients with neck dissection?

There is no single figure, because neck dissection is performed for many cancers at many stages. Outlook depends on the primary tumor, how many nodes are involved, whether cancer has broken through the node capsule, and what other treatment follows. The pathology report from the operation is what allows the oncologist to give an individualized estimate, so the most useful conversation happens once those results are back.

What does elective neck dissection mean?

An elective neck dissection removes lymph nodes from a neck that appears normal on examination and imaging, because the primary tumor carries a significant risk of hidden spread. A therapeutic neck dissection, by contrast, removes nodes known to contain cancer. The elective approach is supported by a randomized trial in early oral cancer published in the New England Journal of Medicine, which found better survival compared with watchful waiting.

What are selective neck dissection levels?

Surgeons divide the neck into six anatomical levels using landmarks such as the jaw, hyoid bone, and collarbone. A selective dissection clears only the levels a particular tumor is most likely to reach, for example levels I through III for many mouth cancers, while preserving the accessory nerve, jugular vein, and sternocleidomastoid muscle. Radical and modified radical dissections clear levels I through V and are reserved for extensive disease.

Will a neck dissection affect my shoulder permanently?

Usually not, but temporary weakness is common. The spinal accessory nerve, which controls the trapezius muscle that lifts the shoulder, runs through the surgical field and can be bruised even when preserved. Most weakness recovers over weeks to months with physiotherapy. Permanent weakness is more likely when the nerve must be removed because cancer has grown around it, which the surgeon will discuss beforehand if it is a possibility.

Is sentinel node biopsy an alternative to neck dissection?

For some early mouth cancers, yes. A tracer injected around the tumor identifies the first draining node, which is removed and examined. If it is clear, the rest of the neck is usually left alone with close follow-up; if it contains cancer, a full dissection follows. This spares many patients a larger operation. Its suitability depends on tumor site and stage, and not every center offers it for every case.

What happens if cancer is found in the removed lymph nodes?

The finding raises the formal stage and usually leads to a recommendation for additional treatment, most often radiation to the neck, sometimes combined with chemotherapy, particularly if several nodes are involved or cancer has spread through the node capsule. Nodal spread is regional rather than distant, and many patients with node-positive disease are treated with the goal of long-term control. The multidisciplinary team reviews the report and discusses next steps.

References

• Mouth cancer: Treatment, NHS
• Lymphedema, MedlinePlus
• Head and Neck Cancer, MedlinePlus

This article is for general information only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult a qualified doctor about your individual situation.