ABSTRACT

Speech and swallowing are highly complex physiologic activities essential to human survival and a reasonable quality of life. These functions are refined through development to adulthood, and become highly predictable and reliable. The complexity and importance of these functions are best appreciated by knowing, studying, and treating cancer survivors who have suffered significant disruption to the vocal and speech subsystems and upper aerodigestive tract. The authors’ intentions in this chapter include sharing of clinical experience and evidenced-based evaluation and treatment methods from years of practice with patients prior to and following oncologic treatments for oral cancers. Due to the paucity of controlled, prospective studies related to outcomes following oral cavity cancers and associated reconstruction, much of the information provided may be related to oropharyngeal cancer treatment and reconstruction. To fully comprehend the potential dysfunction in these situations, it is important to begin with a functional, physiologic perspective on the voice, speech, and swallowing anatomy that was explained in earlier chapters of this text.