Chapters Transcript Video Tjoson Tjoa, MD: Head and neck cancer awareness Head and neck surgeon shares recent developments in the detection, diagnosis, and treatment of cancers of the head and neck. We often see patients in our head and neck cancer clinic after they've had multiple referrals. Um initially to their primary care physician for something like a neck mass, um that gets treated with antibiotics and doesn't go away. And that particular patient who gets treated with antibiotics and the neck mass doesn't go away as a prime candidate for a referral to a head and neck surgeon. I'm Joana, I'm a head and neck microvascular surgeon as well here at University of California Irvine. Um I did my undergraduate training at uh the University of California at Berkeley Medical School at the Medical College of Virginia. And then I actually trained here for residency in Otto head neck surgery, completed my fellowship training at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. And um, I'm now associate professor and interim chair here in the department. Once we have a biopsy that confirms cancer, um which is usually done with an ultrasound and a fine needle aspiration, then we can start the work up and, and look for where the cancer started. I think a lot of physicians see a neck mass and, you know, by far the most common reason for a neck mass is infectious. But once we know that it's a cancer, we can then focus on the search for head and neck cancer. And, and oftentimes the primary lesion that results in a neck mass is somewhere in the mouth and throat. The, the thing that attracted me most, uh, the field of head and neck cancer and surgery in particular was the relationship that you can form with patients over time and, and how important a role in their life, their treatment and rehabilitation plays. And it's something that I don't take lightly any, any day of the week. And it's really important to me, we've assembled a really great team here of passionate people who really care about patients and their families and are committed on a daily basis to always doing the best for our patients, including Doctor Haar. We have a care coordinator who's, um, a registered nurse and we have nurse navigators who can help guide patients and their families through the process. And I think having that team here backed by the multidisciplinary cancer center here at, uh, the University of California Irvine is something that really, really has helped our patients and excites me every day um in our ability to treat them. Created by Related Presenters Tjoson Tjoa, MD Director, Division of Head & Neck Oncologic Surgery View full profile
