Receiving care

Back

Sous vos yeux

Partagez là autour de vous !

Sous vos yeux

Qui pourra deviner la chute ?

 

 

Chaque année, en France, 15 000 nouveaux cas de cancer de la bouche et de la gorge sont diagnostiqués. 4ème cause de cancer en France, les cancers ORL ont un pronostic souvent sombre en raison d’un diagnostic trop tardif. Les symptômes sont rarement inquiétants et généralement ignorés car banalisés. Or, pris en charge à un stade précoce, les cancers ORL peuvent être guéris dans 9 cas sur 10. La sensibilisation du public et des professionnels de santé (médecins généralistes, dentistes) à ces symptômes est donc primordiale. C’est pourquoi, à l’occasion de la semaine des cancers ORL qui se déroule du 18 au 23 septembre prochain, l’IUCT-Oncopole de Toulouse lance une campagne virale avec une vidéo surprenante, aux contours humoristiques, pour sensibiliser aux symptômes de la maladie et inciter les personnes à risque à consulter.


9/13/23

Patient care

Radiotherapy for head and neck tumors

Radiotherapy may be provided as a first-line treatment or as a follow up to surgery. In both cases, it may be combined with a relatively unaggressive form of chemotherapy that increases the effectiveness of the radiation.

Objectives of radiotherapy:

  • Destroy the tumor and any cancerous lymph nodes in patients who are not treated by surgery. In this case, the radiation therapist bases the treatment on the patient’s scans.
  • Destroy the invisible part of the disease (microscopic disease), including cancerous cells around the tumor and/or in apparently healthy lymph nodes. The radiation therapist uses scans, microscope analyses of the tumor, if it is removed by surgery, and his/her knowledge of the disease’s natural history to determine the area to be treated.

 

Consultation with a radiation therapist

The radiation therapist explains the goal of the treatment, the procedure and any possible side effects. You will see this doctor again during your treatment and at post-treatment follow-up consultations.
 

Preparation of the treatment

Before radiotherapy begins, we make a soft-plastic mask of your face, which you will wear during treatment to make sure you don’t move your head unconsciously. On the day treatment begins, you will be given a CT scan, the results of which will be used to prepare the treatment.

Each course of treatment is prepared in conjunction with a specialist medical physics team, who will ensure the treatment is administered safely and according to good practices.

 

Treatment procedure

At the IUCT-O, all patients with head and neck tumors receive “intensity-modulated radiotherapy”. The radiotherapy center has:

  • 3 tomotherapy machines, which are particularly suited to treating large tumors and/or tumors close to the base of the skull;
  • 4 VMAT (volumetric modulated arc therapy) accelerators.

 

Learn more 

Treatment is administered by technicians. A course of treatment will involve one session per day (apart from weekends) for a period of between 5 and 7 weeks.

Patients receive:

  • A dental workup before treatment begins;
  • Medical check-ups at least once a week;
  • Dietary advice;
  • If necessary, nursing care from radiotherapy nurses.

 

End of treatment consultation

The radiation therapist will explain to you how the treatment went and organize follow-up appointments to monitor your progress.