Head and Neck Cancers Service
Nationally recognized care for head and neck cancers
Mass General Brigham Cancer Institute is home to one of the largest, most established head and neck cancer centers in the region and among the most active in the country. We routinely see a high number of patients with these diseases, leading to a global reputation for managing the most difficult cases.
Our Mass General Brigham Cancer Institute specialists collaborate with imaging and surgical experts at the internationally respected Mass Eye and Ear, in addition to Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, to provide comprehensive care for every patient.
Our approach to care
As a Mass General Brigham patient, you will receive care from a team that specializes in head and neck cancers. Your care team may include:
- Head and neck surgeons
- Medical, radiation, and surgical oncologists (cancer specialists)
- Microvascular surgeons
- Oral maxillofacial surgeons
- Pathologists
- Radiologists
- Speech-language therapists
- Nutritionists
Our diagnostic specialists use advanced imaging and molecular testing to confirm your diagnosis and identify tumor markers that guide treatment.
Your care team partners with Mass General Brigham radiologists who use advanced imaging — such as CT, MRI, and PET/CT— to accurately define and stage the tumor and support personalized care.
Our physicians and scientists have helped develop techniques and technologies to make radiation treatment more effective and improve the quality of patients' lives.
We are home to New England's only proton therapy center to treat head and neck tumors. This treatment precisely targets tumors, sparing healthy tissue. Other radiation therapies include:
- High-dose rate brachytherapy to implant radioactive seeds
- Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) to deliver multiple beams of different strengths to a tumor
- Intraoperative radiation therapy to deliver radiation therapy at the same time as surgery
- Stereotactic radiosurgery and stereotactic body radiotherapy to focus a large radiation dose on the tumor
- MRI-guided adaptive radiotherapy to image a tumor while it is being treated with radiation
Our head and neck surgeons are internationally recognized for their expertise in treating cancer while preserving function and appearance.
We offer:
- Advanced procedures to treat skull base tumors, including endoscopic resection and proton therapy.
- Free-flap tissue transfers to preserve or restore appearance and function after treatment.
- Specialized thyroid and parathyroid surgery, such as recurrent laryngeal nerve electrophysiologic monitoring and intraoperative parathyroid hormone analysis.
- Voice-preserving endoscopic laser excision of laryngeal cancer to preserve or restore speech abilities after laryngeal surgery.
Head and neck cancers we treat
- Head and Neck Cancer
- Oral Cancer
- Laryngeal Cancer
- Mouth and Throat Tumors
- Paranasal Sinus Tumors
- Olfactory Neuroblastoma
- Skull Base Chordoma
- Radiation Therapy
- Transoral Resection for Oral Cancer
- Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) for Cancer
- Immunotherapy for Cancer Monoclonal Antibodies (mAbs)
- Parotidectomy
- Targeted Therapy for Cancer
Cancer clinical trials and research
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Patient resources and support
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Contact the Head and Neck Cancers Service
Cancer Institute
855-776-4224
Mass Eye and Ear Head and Neck Cancer Surgery
617-573-3489