Jaw bone tumour after 6 primary cancers
Hi I have discovered a tumour on my jaw bone. Biopsy not done at this stage. Terrified as I have had 6 primary cancers 1986-2019. Still alive and kicking at 54, but not sure what to do about this one as surgery is very risky… has anyone had this or similar?
Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Head & Neck Cancer Support Group.
Connect

Hello and welcome to the head and neck group. We have had a few members here with mandible tumors in the past. If they are still checking in then perhaps they will offer up advice.
Myself I had a mandible replacement using a section of fibula bone and flap material to rebuild the gum. A bit of a process but overall recovery and result was far better than any cancer treatment I had prior. So there seems to always be solution for what ails us.
Six cancers and you are still relatively young. I am at a loss for words. Are all of these cancers related?
@hrhwilliam Thank you. Mandible replacement- scary!! How long did it take? Complications?
"Apparently" the only connection is treatment ie Each time I have had chemo or radiation it has caused another primary later. No genetic connections!!!!!! Im exhausted and constantly wonder "Why am I hear" My life is really rough....
@kimmyp033 Perhaps it’s time to seek help elsewhere such as a large cancer center?
The mandible replacement is done well at only a handful of places in the USA and of course Europe, Asia and Australia. I went to Mayo Clinic for mine as they were instrumental in the development of the procedure and have trained surgeons in this from around the world.
A roughly eight hour surgery it can be a bit daunting. The recovery was quick compared to cancer recovery. I was walking well in a couple of months and had prosthetic teeth installed in eight months. My left mandible had died literally and that was from cancer radiation treatment. I addressed it before it completely fell apart, which would have been an emergency, something I wished to avoid. I was 64 when I had that done.
As for your repeated cancer, I would get on a plane to a large cancer center. Something doesn’t set right with so much repetition.
Additional resources can also be found at spohnc.org which is the society for head and neck cancers. They have some vast resources to help you get to the root cause of all this. Courage.