Head and Neck Cancer Reconstruction Program
Our Head and Neck Cancer Reconstruction Program is known around the world for excellent surgery results. Our goal is to help you get back to your life before cancer.
Overview
Our team can help restore how you look, feel, and function using reconstructive surgery. Our surgeons and plastic and reconstructive surgeons work together to improve or rebuild the areas affected by cancer treatment.
Our goal is to support the best possible treatment results while also giving you the best quality of life. MSK offers reconstructive surgery for all types of head and neck cancers, including:
- Mouth (oral) cancer
- Tongue cancer
- Throat cancer
- Thyroid cancer
- Salivary gland cancer and parotid gland tumors
- Sinus cancers
- Skull base tumors
- Head and neck skin cancers
MSK is home to one of the oldest head and neck surgery programs in the world. We’ve helped set global standards of care and our surgeons have some of the highest success rates. We’re able to restore blood flow to nearly all tissue flaps, with a success rate of about 99%.
Talk with an MSK Care Advisor. We're here 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Program details
Experts in MSK’s Head and Neck Cancer Reconstruction Program work together to make a treatment plan just for you. Our team includes:
- Head and neck surgeons (doctors who are experts in surgery to remove head and neck cancer).
- Plastic and reconstructive surgeons (doctors trained in cosmetic and reconstructive surgery).
- Oral and maxillofacial (max-ill-o-FAY-shul) prosthodontic (pros-thoh-DON-tic) surgeons. They’re doctors who place dental implants and help rebuild your mouth and face.
We work closely with other members of your MSK care team, including:
- Medical oncologists (cancer doctors who use drugs to treat cancer).
- Radiation oncologists (doctors who use radiation to treat cancer).
- Dental oncologists (dentists with special training in mouth or oral cancer).
Advanced head and neck reconstruction methods
We use the latest reconstruction methods to rebuild parts of your face or neck. These methods help reduce scars and aim for the best possible results.
Our surgeons are experts in many types of reconstructive surgery, including free-flap microsurgery. This means we move skin, muscle, or bone from one part of your body to repair the treated area. Using a microscope, we carefully reconnect tiny blood vessels to restore blood flow.
When planning surgery, we choose the best tissue to replace what we remove. We limit the effect on the area where we take the tissue from.
We also use advanced imaging and 3D printing to plan complex bone reconstruction before surgery. We create bone grafts, plates, and dental implants made just for you. These methods help us precisely reconstruct the jaw and other bones in your mouth and face.
We can also restore symmetry to your face, so both sides match. Sometimes we also can restore facial motion. We use a microscope as we repair tiny nerves affected by cancer. Our methods can help you speak, swallow, and look like you did before treatment.
How we plan your reconstructive surgery
At MSK, we most often do reconstructive surgery at the same time as surgery to remove the tumor. Doing both procedures together can help you recover faster.
Before surgery, your surgeon will talk with you about your reconstruction options. They’ll answer any questions. They’ll also show you photos of similar reconstructions, to give you a better idea of what to expect.
Our goal is to protect your quality of life and make sure you’re pleased with the results. That’s why we ask you to fill out questionnaires before and after surgery. Your answers help us understand how you feel about how your face looks and how the treatment has affected you.
Your answers let us keep improving the care we provide. Many of these questionnaires were developed at MSK using feedback from patients like you.
MSK’s dental experts can rebuild the shape and look of your mouth after treatment. They’re known around the world for their skill in making and fitting all types of dental implants.
If you need dental reconstruction, your MSK care team includes:
- Dental oncologists
- Maxillofacial prosthodontists
- Endodontists (EN-doh-DON-tists)
Our dental team is skilled at making replacement parts.
MSK’s dental team crafts a custom prosthetic (PROS-theh-tic), an artificial (man-made) piece that replaces a body part. It’s also called a prothesis (pros-THEE-sis). They’re designed and printed for you, for a perfect fit. Dental prosthetics replace missing or damaged teeth.
Dental prosthetics include:
- Dental implants (metal posts that are used to mount replacement teeth).
- Obturators for the roof of your mouth. These are plates that close an opening between your nasal cavity and mouth.
- Other custom devices to help repair your jaw or tongue.
MSK’s maxillofacial prosthodontists will use the best methods to improve your quality of life and speed up the recovery process. Sometimes they can place dental implants during your surgery. This may help you avoid a separate implant procedure. Unlike many other hospitals, at MSK, it’s routine for us to do jaw and dental reconstructions during a surgery.
You may get a temporary dental prosthesis after the dental implant. This can happen as early as 6 weeks after your tumor was removed. A dental prosthesis helps protect your mouth as it heals after a dental implant. It also helps you speak and chew easily.
Some head and neck cancers can affect your teeth and jaw. Our dental experts offer ways to restore your ability to eat and speak, including dental implants and prosthetics. We often can place implants during your tumor removal and reconstructive surgery. This can help shorten your recovery time.
You’re a person with a life after cancer, and we want to help you get back to it.
To support you and your loved ones, MSK has many follow-up and continued care programs with experts in:
- Speech and hearing therapy
- Physical therapy
- Nutrition therapy
- Cancer mental health
- Integrative medicine
- Tobacco cessation
Your MSK care team will help you adjust and thrive after treatment, including making a survivorship care plan for you.
MSK offers surgery consultations at locations in New York City, New Jersey, Westchester County, and on Long Island. If you’re traveling from out of town for your care, we can support you.
MSK's free, online Patient and Community Education Library has more than 1,200 written and video resources about cancer care. MSK experts explain topics such as treatments, procedures, side effects, screening, and prevention. Our information is in English, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, and other languages.
Common questions
Not everyone feels pain the same way. They also do not have pain or discomfort for the same amount of time. In the first days after surgery, you may still have some pain when you go home. Most often, you’ll be taking pain medicine.
After the first week, the pain often gets much better. Most people can stop taking medicine in 3 to 4 weeks.
Some people can have soreness, tightness, or muscle aches around their incision (cut) for up to 6 months. This does not mean something is wrong. You’ll have less pain and need less pain medicine as your incision heals.
You’ll fully recover from reconstruction surgery in a few weeks to a few months.
How long it takes to return to your normal life depends on a few things. They include your age and your general health. Recovery time also depends on the type of surgery you had and can differ from person to person.
As you recover:
- The swelling will slowly go away.
- Your face will start to look more natural and scars are harder to notice.
- You’ll be able to talk more easily and eat many of the foods you like.
- You’ll have more energy to do the activities you enjoy.
Surgery can affect your digestion (how your body breaks down the food you eat). It can change your taste, how you eat, and how hungry you are.
Our clinical dietitian nutritionists can answer your questions about what you can and should eat. They can help with:
- Planning healthy meals at home.
- Advice about special diets.
- Working around food allergies.
- Managing symptoms such as weight loss or gain
