Treatment Options for Recurrences

Patients who have a local or regional recurrence will typically require additional surgery to remove the new tumors. Surgery for recurrent tumors is one of the most challenging operations and should only be done by a very experienced surgeon.

The patient will likely have more follow up exams and imaging studies done after the second surgery to try to catch any future recurrences early.

Depending on the circumstances, some patients may have radiation therapy.

The decision regarding whether a patient needs radiation therapy alone, or a combination of surgery, radiation, or chemotherapy, is generally based on many factors, such as:

• The number, location, and extent of recurrences
   
• The initial and subsequent treatments performed
   
• The success of the previous treatments
   
• The tumor type and behavior of the tumor

Patients can obtain more information related to radiation therapy and chemotherapy in the treatment of malignant parotid tumors section of the website.