Why do some cancer patients need speech, hearing or swallowing help?
Cancer and its treatment often affect structures and physiology that enable patients to talk, eat and hear. For example, head and neck cancer may affect the tongue, larynx (voice box) or the nerves that allow those organs to function. Often treatment impairs abilities in the short run that may deteriorate further over time. Radiation is associated with formation of fibrosis (scarring). Scarring in the larynx may prevent it from moving, causing it to lose the ability to make sound and to protect the airway from aspiration (when food or saliva travels into the lungs). The inability of the larynx to move may cause additional swallowing problems. Frequently, lung tumors compress the nerve that makes vocal cords work, causing vocal cord paralysis. Many chemotherapies also are extremely toxic to hearing.
