ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION The head and neck is perhaps one of the most complex sites for cancer treatment, not only because of the difficult management problems, but also because of the many physical and psychological traumas potentially affecting the patient. Nowhere else in the body does an area have tissue with such diversity. Disease and its progression can dramatically alter the patient’s appearance, as well as his or her basic functions, such as breathing, eating, speech, hearing, and sight. With such physical and functional changes comes the emotional trauma of reintegrating back into everyday life following treatment.
