Having chemoradiotherapy for mouth and oropharyngeal cancer

Chemoradiotherapy means having chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatment together.

Chemotherapy uses anti cancer (cytotoxic) drugs to destroy cancer cells. The drugs circulate throughout the body in the bloodstream.

Chemotherapy drugs can make cells more sensitive to radiotherapy. This helps radiotherapy to kill cancer cells.

When you have chemoradiotherapy

You might have chemoradiotherapy:

  • as your main treatment for oropharyngeal cancer if surgery is not a suitable option
  • after surgery for mouth cancer that has spread into surrounding tissues or into nearby lymph nodes
  • after surgery for mouth or oropharyngeal cancer that has spread into surrounding tissues or outside lymph nodes
  • for advanced oropharyngeal cancer

How you have chemoradiotherapy

Your exact treatment plan depends on your situation.

Your radiotherapy might last for about 6 to 7 weeks. You usually have it daily for 5 days every week, Monday to Friday. Your chemotherapy may be every 3 to 4 weeks. Or it might be weekly. 

Chemoradiotherapy can be quite a tough treatment. It can cause damage to some healthy cells at the same time. This might cause side effects. You will need some tests to check you are well enough to cope with it.  

Where you have chemoradiotherapy

Chemotherapy

You usually have treatment in the chemotherapy day unit or you might need to stay in hospital for a day or more.

The most common drugs used for mouth and oropharyngeal cancer are cisplatin and fluorouracil (5FU).

Radiotherapy

You have treatment in the hospital radiotherapy department.

Before you begin treatment, the radiotherapy team works out how much radiation you need. They divide it into a number of smaller treatments. They call each treatment a fraction. This is called radiotherapy planning.

You might also have a mask made. The radiographers use this to help keep you in the correct position for the treatment.

Photograph of a mesh plastic mask used for radiotherapy for cancer of the head and neck and brain

After your planning session

Treatment usually starts about 2 weeks after the planning session

Having treatment

You have radiotherapy from an external machine as a daily treatment, five days a week for several weeks. You lie under a large machine to have radiotherapy.

Smoking

If you smoke, your doctor will advise you to stop. Smoking during treatment can make the side effects worse. 

Side effects

Chemoradiotherapy can cause side effects during the treatment and afterwards.

  • Head and Neck Cancer: United Kingdom National Multidisciplinary Guidelines, Sixth Edition
    J Homer and S Winter
    The Journal of Laryngology and Otology, 2024. Volume 138, Number S1

  • Squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity, larynx, oropharynx and hypopharynx: EHNS- ESMO-ESTRO Clinical Practice Guidelines for diagnosis, treatment and follow-up

    J.-P. Machiels and others

    Annals of Oncology, 2020. Volume 31, Issue 11, Pages 1462 to 1475

  • Oral Complications from Oropharyngeal Cancer Therapy

    V Sankar  and Y Xu

    Cancers (Basel), 2023 September. Volume 15, Issue 18, Page

  • Radiotherapy in Practice: External Beam Therapy (3rd edition)
    P Hoskin
    Oxford University Press, 2019

Last reviewed: 
29 Aug 2024
Next review due: 
29 Aug 2027

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