Learn more about our appointment options, second opinions, locations, referrals, and resources that are at your disposal.
Head and neck cancers can affect some of our most basic functions — hearing, taste, and speech — so they can often show themselves in subtle ways. The AHN Head and Neck Cancer Center of Excellence has highly trained doctors and surgeons who are adept at spotting even the smallest of symptoms: changes in voice, difficulty swallowing, small lumps, or soreness.
When the cancer affects our head and neck, it’s changing how we interact with the world. Small cancer can have big impacts: a 3 mm tumor on your vocal cord can cause significant change in your voice or a tonsil cancer can cause pain and make it difficult to eat. Treatments and surgery on your head and neck affect how you look and interact with the world more than other cancers. That’s why it’s so important to be seen by a multidisciplinary team like that at AHN who works in tandem to treat your specific needs.
Our experienced team of head and neck cancer specialists includes:
The Head and Neck Cancer Center of Excellence provides support to patients through diagnosis, cutting-edge treatments, and access to ongoing clinical trials.
We use advanced techniques to help treat head and neck cancer, including:
At AHN, we have our Thyroid Cancer Program that offers advanced and individualized treatment options for those affected by thyroid cancer.
Our Thyroid Cancer Program offers:
Find out how to join and what is part of the Thyroid Cancer Program.
Much like with an injury to an arm or a leg, you may expect to visit a physical therapist to regain mobility. AHN provides the same treatment for those who have had surgery or a procedure on the head or neck. Oncology rehabilitation can help with potential side effects and recovery.
Our team helps you before, during, and after treatment. This team includes:
Learn more about our Oncology Rehabilitation program and how we can help you.
We know a cancer prognosis is scary. At the AHN Head and Neck Cancer Center of Excellence, we see each patient as a unique individual with unique needs and attention. Our expert surgeons, oncologists, and medical professionals meet you where you’re at and are ready to talk with you about your options. It’s important to remember many head and neck cancers can have a high rate of curability if caught early.
The Head and Neck Cancer Center of Excellence provides personalized care that meets your specific needs from diagnosis to treatment. There are many options for treatment beyond surgery or chemotherapy, which is rarely used with these types of cancers. Talk to your doctor about the best type of treatment for you.
Your first visit with a doctor about head and neck cancer concerns begins with sharing your medical history and getting a physical. The doctor will carefully examine your head and neck, including your mouth, nose, throat, lymph nodes, and skin.
Depending on the concerns, there are multiple ways for doctors to diagnose head and neck cancers including:
Head and neck cancers affect many different areas and various tissues in the head and neck region. These cancers can affect the mouth, nose, throat, sinuses, salivary glands, larynx, and even the thyroid gland. Each type of head and neck cancer presents unique challenges, requiring a tailored approach to diagnosis and treatment.
Our navigation team includes highly trained nurses, financial advocates, and other supportive care professionals to help plan your care. Our nurse navigators can help explain your treatment to you and your family, schedule appointments, coordinate your care from home, and provide you with emotional support throughout your cancer treatment journey.
We have a cancer nurse line dedicated to you and your loved ones. Call (412) 578-HOPE (412) 578-4673 and a cancer nurse will answer your questions, schedule an appointment, and provide support. If you’re in Erie, call (814) 452-HOPE (814) 452-4673.
We focus on the same outcomes with less treatment for our human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive patients. Often, these patients are young enough that side effects can follow them through the rest of their lives, which could be 30 or more years. These can include dry mouth, swallowing problems, pain, and muscle spasms.
At AHN, we can use treatments that will lead to fewer side effects such as limited chemotherapy, radiation, or surgical procedures.
Your cancer treatment journey does not end when the cancer is gone. You may have lasting side effects or issues from treatment that we can also help with. We focus on mitigating the side effects from treatment including dry mouth, voice changes, and difficulty swallowing. Our Bench to Bedside research focuses on helping those recovering from radiation-induced xerostomia (dry mouth).
If cancer affects your throat, there may be options to help you regain your ability to talk or swallow food after treatment. Our surgeons can help replace bone lost during surgery using cutting-edge technologies. It’s important to speak to your doctor about options.
Our support services for cancer patients include services for patients and their loved ones.
The Head and Neck Cancer Center of Excellence brings its team together regularly to discuss and decide on the right combination of therapies for you. We work with you to get an accurate diagnosis and create an effective treatment strategy based on your personal needs.
Learn more about our team of doctors and specialists below:
Chairperson, Head and Neck Cancer
Otolaryngology (ENT)
Otolaryngology (ENT)
Otolaryngology (ENT)
Find Care list of head and neck surgical oncologists.
Medical Oncology Lead
Hematology and Oncology
Find Care list of medical oncologists.
Radiation Oncology Lead
Radiation Oncology
Radiation Oncology
Find Care list of radiation oncologists.
Speech-Language Pathologist
Nurse Navigator Lead
Nutritionist
If you want to be tested for or have been diagnosed with head or neck cancer, we’re here to help. Getting diagnosed early means faster treatment and a quicker track to a cure.
Schedule directly with our otolaryngology offices for your ear, nose, and throat (ENT) concerns. If you have a cancer diagnosis, or suspected cancer, you will be routed for rapid scheduling, with a goal of an appointment within five days.
There are four ways to make an appointment with us:
Your first appointment will usually be with one of the surgical oncologists, even if your treatment course does not involve surgery. Bring all available and relative information like scans, biopsy results, and a CD of imaging (if available) to your first visit.
You might expect a minor procedure or endoscopy exam like endoscopic evaluation of the nose or throat.
Then, you may then be referred to other medical specialties like medical oncology or radiation oncology. Afterwards, expect a call from a Nurse Navigator to arrange for follow-up scans or schedule with supportive services like Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) and Oncology Rehabilitation.
AHN is continually focused on improving treatment for head and neck cancers. Clinical trials help us advance our efforts. Some trials focus on finding ways to make treatment less intense, especially for those patients with HPV-related cancers. They can experience the same results with fewer side effects. Other trials are exploring exciting new treatments that could really change the game for patients.
We’re also researching ways to help people who experience dry mouth after radiation therapy. This includes lab work, collecting samples from patients, testing new treatments in animals, and running clinical trials for people who have already had radiation.
If you’re interested in learning more about clinical trials, talk to your doctor. We also review every patient’s case to see if they might be a good fit for a trial.
As part of the Head and Neck Cancer Alliance, we want to stay up to date on the best practices for head and neck cancer work. We helped refine and follow the Head and Neck Cancer Survivorship Care Guidelines from the American Cancer Society. The focus of this guide is to lay out best practices for head and neck cancer practices for medical professionals.
The AHN Cancer Institute is a pioneer in cancer research and participates in clinical trials of new medical oncology therapies that are open for patients who qualify and wish to participate. Patients are screened for consideration with ongoing clinical trials at every stage of their treatment.
Clinical trials are studies that try to answer questions about new ways to treat cancer with medications, radiation, or surgical techniques. Previous trials have shown how new methods of treatment improve survival and quality of life and reduce the risk of cancer returning.
You participate in a clinical trial only if you volunteer to do so and meet criteria for inclusion in the study, and you can stop participating in a trial at any time.
The plan for the trial, called a protocol, explains what the trial will do and how the study will be done. Based on the questions the research is trying to answer, each clinical trial protocol outlines specific criteria necessary to be eligible to join the trial.
Common criteria for entering a trial are:
Federal rules help ensure that clinical trials are run in an ethical manner, with your rights and safety protected. It’s to ensure that you’re not put at increased risk by participating in the trial, and that the results of the study are accurate and meaningful.
Conducting clinical trials helps us contribute to Cancer Moonshot — an initiative created by former President Joe Biden and the White House. The goal is to prevent more than 4 million cancer deaths by 2047 and improve the experience for people affected by cancer. We’re doing our part to join this fight by collaborating with more than 60 private companies, patient groups, academic institutions, and nonprofits.
There are four ways for medical professionals, who are not a part of Allegheny Health Network, to refer their patients to an AHN specialist and request their first appointment. You can:
For more information about referring your patient to an AHN specialist, read the Independent Physician Referral FAQs.
After referring your patient to an AHN specialist, use the EpicCare Link platform to collaborate with their AHN specialist and view your patient’s test results, treatment plan, and progress.
If you are new to EpicCare Link, or need to request your own EpicCare Link account, check the EpicCare Link for Patient Follow-up for user instructions and new account request forms.
If you can’t access your patient’s AHN test results through the EpicCare Link platform, your patient will need to complete and submit the correct AHN Medical Records Release form, based on their state of residency. Support your patient’s request by downloading the correct medical records release form for them:
EpicCare® is a registered trademark of Epic Systems Corporation and used with permission.
EpicCare® Link™ is a trademark of Epic Systems Corporation and used with permission.
Learn more about our appointment options, second opinions, locations, referrals, and resources that are at your disposal.