Cancer Treatment Options Forum - July 30th, 2010 - 4 Comments
My father cannot produce saliva after recieving radiation from throat cancer?
My father cannot produce saliva after receiving radiation from throat cancer. Are there any surgeries or practices that will enable him to produce his own? He successfully completed his chemo and radiation, and just now has had his feeding tube removed. He is able to drink thick liquids but not eat any real food due to his absence of saliva. His tongue is also slightly swollen and will be checked soon hopefully to determine the cause.
Xerostomia (dry mouth) is VERY common for people that undergo radiation for Head and Neck cancers. The radiation to the parotid glands (those are the large salivary glands that live just in front of your ears) is what causes the xerostomia. The dose of radiation can be limited by newer radiation techniques (IMRT). Unfortunately, there aren’t any surgeries that would help this. The only medication that may help after treatment is Salagen (or pilocarpine) which basically tries to stimulate the parotids to produce more saliva–it’s a 50/50 whether or not it will help. It takes time for the parotid glands to recover. They usually don’t recover completely, but some people have fairly normal function 6-12 months after treatment.
More than likely it is the chemotherapy and not the radiation that kills the ability to produce saliva. My father had nonhodgkins lymphoma and went through the same thing. Also if you read up on Chemo it is a horrible treatment. I have done an incredible amount of research on the subject as my daughter did when presenting a project in school. Chemotherapy started off not as a cure but as MUSTARD GAS. Yep a chemical warfare agent used in many wars. I hate to pass that along but it bothers me to hear about the chemo use. For the saliva my father was able to start producing saliva again, just took time.
This also happened with my brother.
He is able to eat normally now, just ALWAYS needs to have a glass of water to sip as he eats.
It IS from the radiation to the neck area. I had that exact thing and lost my saliva. It gradually returned to normal over the course of 6-8 months. What he will need to do in the mean time is carry a bottle of water with him EVERYWHERE he goes. It can get quite uncomfortable without the water.Saliva substitutes ar horrid! Imagine having to during a cup of cold slimy saliva. Best wishes on his recovery.