Can cancer of the head and neck be cured?

Like many other cancers, some head and neck cancers can be cured if they are detected early and all the cancer cells can be removed by surgery (usually with another treatment such as radiotherapy to make sure any remaining cancer cells are killed).

Cancer of the head and neck does recur (come back) in some patients. This may be because not all the original cancer cells were removed or killed, or because a second cancer develops. The time between treatment of the first cancer and a recurrence or the development of a second cancer is very variable, but may be many years.