Passion Over Cancer – Head and Neck Cancer

Despite making up only 3% of cancer cases in the U.S., people with head and neck cancer have the second-highest suicide rate of all individuals with cancer, according to The Journal of the American Medical Association.

It took several years of seeing doctors and undergoing tests, but when Mary Pat, an assistant at the University of Chicago, finally learned she had head and neck cancer, she dreaded what would come next. One type of treatment involved radical surgery with a low chance of survival, and even the best outcome meant losing part of her tongue.

But with the help of her husband and coworkers, Mary Pat found alternative procedures that were less drastic, giving her the chance to beat her cancer and have a normal life once again.

This episode also features in-depth commentary from renowned expert Ari Rosenberg, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine and Oncologist, University of Chicago Medicine.