HNCF Awards First Research Grant to UCLH Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon
UK-based charity, the Head & Neck Cancer Foundation(HNCF), has awarded head and neck cancer surgeon Dr Clare Schilling, £15,000 to carry out key research into improving outcomes for head and neck cancer patients. The charity’s first grant is part of its commitment to driving the adoption of ground-breaking head and neck cancer treatment.
HNCF aims to minimise the magnitude and aesthetical impacts of surgery, on head and neck cancer patients. It has awarded Clare Schilling, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon at University College London Hospital, with this grant towards her upcoming study to improve information for surgeons regarding whether certain types of head and neck cancers have, or might, spread to the other side of the neck. This research aims to reduce both the number of unnecessary surgeries, and instances where a spread cancer is missed.
Cancers found at the back of the mouth or throat are usually only discovered after spreading to the lymph glands, found in the neck. Whilst often spreading to the side of the neck that the original tumour is located on, these cancers can sometimes reach both sides. Because of this, treatment must eliminate both the original tumour and the cancer that has spread. Because of the current need to make an estimation, some patients can be treated unnecessarily on both sides of the neck, leading to severe life-long effects on swallowing. There is also the risk of missing a spread cancer if only operating on one side of the neck.
The study, led by Dr Schilling with result in improved information, allowing for surgeons to make more accurate choices. A procedure known as Sentinel Node Biopsy (SNB) will be used to determine if the cancer has spread to the other side of the neck with an improved degree of accuracy.
Stage One - Imaging
The first stage is the imaging stage, in which a radioactive substance, Lymphoseek is injected into the tumour. The substance enters the lymph nodes and can first be seen in the sentinel nodes using a specialised gamma camera. This process will take place during a patient’s examination under anaesthetic (EUA). A CT scan will then be used the next day to check if the camera identified the sentinel nodes correctly.
Stage Two - Surgery
The second stage involves a new patient group, in which those found with a sentinel node during the EUA will have it removed. These nodes will then be examined thoroughly for signs of cancer.
If successful, patients will be able to recieve Lymphoseek before the EUA, allowing time for the sentinel nodes to be found via CT scan and then removed during the EUA. This ensures that, even if the gamma camera cannot be used, these nodes can be removed during the EUA.
Clare Schilling, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon at University College London Hospital comments: “I am so pleased to have been awarded a generous grant from the Head & Neck Cancer Foundation. This study is perfectly aligned with the charity’s mission of reducing the magnitude and impacts of head and neck cancer surgery and fingers crossed that after a successful study, patients will be able to benefit from increasingly percise insights into if their cancer has, or might, spread across the neck.”
Michelle Vickers, CEO at the Head & Neck Cancer Foundation adds: “We are always looking to maximise the impact that each pound we put forward has on cancer patients’ lives. With Clare’s study we are certain that the resulting changes to that way that these patients are treated will be a huge breakthrough in the field, that will go on to improve the lives of thousands of patients.”