title: Evaluation of speech outcomes following treatment of oral and oropharyngeal cancers.
abstract: Oral and oropharyngeal cancers are amongst the commonest cancers worldwide and present a major health problem. Owing to their critical anatomical location and complex physiologic functions, the treatment of oral and oropharyngeal cancers often affects important functions, including speech. The importance of speech in a patient's life can not be overemphasized, as its loss is often associated with severe functional and psychosocial problems and a poor quality of life. A thorough understanding of the speech problems that are faced by these patients and their timely management is the key to providing a better functional quality of life, which must be one of the major goals of modern oncologic practice. This review summarises key methods of evaluation and outcome of speech functions in the literature on oral and oropharyngeal cancer published between January 2000 and December 2008. Speech has been generally overlooked and poorly investigated in this group of patients. This review is an attempt to fill this gap by conducting the first speech-specific review for oral and oropharyngeal cancer patients. We have proposed guidelines for better understanding and management of speech problems faced by these patients in their day-to-day life.
authors.affiliation: Head-Neck Unit, Royal Marsden Hospital, London SW3 6JJ, UK. raghav.dwivedi@rmh.nhs.uk
authors.forename: Raghav C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Dwivedi
authors.forename: Rehan A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Kazi
authors.forename: Nishant
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Agrawal
authors.forename: Christopher M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Nutting
authors.forename: Peter M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Clarke
authors.forename: Cyrus J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Kerawala
authors.forename: Peter H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Rhys-Evans
authors.forename: Kevin J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Harrington
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy / Q000009:adverse effects; D006801:Humans; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*; D009959:Oropharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*; D011788:Quality of Life; D011878:Radiotherapy / Q000009:adverse effects; D013064:Speech Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D013065:Speech Intelligibility; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents