Brian Thomas with Dr. Joseph Shaughnessy -- 4/8/25

Dr. Joseph Shaughnessy joins Brian in studio to talk head and neck cancers.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Eight thirty seven come up in a thirty eight here
fifty five KRCD talk station Brian Thomas with one of
the good doctors from OHC my cancer doctors. Yes, I'm
getting my CT scan today and keep my fingers crossed
because I've got low spectrum lymphoma. But today we're gonna
be talking about head and net cancer. Why because it's
Head and net Cancer Month in studio to talk about that,

(00:23):
doctor Joseph Shaughnessy. And just so you know, because you're
gonna want to get the number down, it's ohcare dot
com online, ohcare dot com eight eight eight six four
nine hundred for initial consultation for second opinion. To be
glad you're talking to them. They're outstanding doctors. Welcome to
the morning show, doctor Joseph, Joseph Shaughnessy. It's a pleasure
to have you here.

Speaker 2 (00:42):
Thank you so much for having me.

Speaker 3 (00:44):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (00:44):
And you've got a well let's see here proof positive
in my hands. Uh radiation on colleges with interest including
breast cancer, head and net cancer, lung cancer, prostate cancer,
gastro intestinal cancer, and skin cancer. Broad field of of
work you do there, doctor.

Speaker 2 (01:02):
Yeah, that's kind of the nature of what I do
out in the community. You know, see a broad spectrum
of cases, and yeah, that's just kind of the nature
of our day to day operation.

Speaker 3 (01:14):
All right.

Speaker 1 (01:14):
Let us initially establish what exactly is head and neck cancer.
What comprises head and neck cancer.

Speaker 2 (01:21):
It's basically any cancer that starts above the clavicles. So
any cancer that arises in the head and neck region
outside of the brain, in the eye, those are normally
not included in this group of cancers. So that could
be a tonsil cancer, the back of the throat they
call it, the base of tongue, anywhere in the mouth
region or the gums, the voice box otherwise known as

(01:42):
the larynx. It can include the thyroid, and then even
skin cancers in the head and neck region. And then
there's some other rare cancers like the nasal passages or
the nasopharynx.

Speaker 1 (01:52):
I just had to dwell us briefly, skin cancer in
the head and neck region that will be exterior on
your neck. That would still fall into your area of
practice or head and neck cancer.

Speaker 2 (02:00):
Yeah, exactly, Okay, And then you know it can start
in the head and neck area on the external scan,
and then it could involve the lymph nodes underneath.

Speaker 1 (02:08):
Or fair enough, fair enough because be pasty Northern European
descentate white guy that's had multiple severe burns when he
was a child. I have a regular standing visit with
a dermatologist annually because dad had a lot of removals.

Speaker 3 (02:21):
Over the years. He spent a lot of time outside.
So just a little fun advice.

Speaker 1 (02:25):
If you want to get at an appointment with a dermatologist,
then you might fuck you find yourself fall into that category.
Not to speak out of turn, doctor scheduled appointment now,
because it's going to be a long time before you
can get in with the dermatologist.

Speaker 2 (02:38):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (02:38):
Often, I know, I know, it's crazy, it's just crazy. Anyway.

Speaker 1 (02:45):
Is any one of those various cancers you talked about
within the head and neck cancer room more predominant than others,
like a softie deal cancer or the larynx.

Speaker 2 (02:54):
Or I would say, so there's this category called the oropharynx,
that's the tonsils and the back of the tongue. That
is probably the most common side of origin, and then
second behind that is probably the voice box. Dirog cancer
is also a very common cancer, but that's kind of
in its own group. And not kind of really often

(03:14):
the focus when they're talking about having net cancer, but
it is grouped into that otory as well.

Speaker 1 (03:18):
Do these cancers that you went down thyroid do they
carry with themselves different like risk factors like I've read
and I'm state in the obvious, I think most people
are paying attention. Smoking, of course, and alcohol consumption can
also lead to throat cancers.

Speaker 3 (03:38):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (03:38):
Absolutely, you hit the nail on the head there. Alcohol
and various forms of tobacco exposure probably in some way,
shape or form, account for seventy to seventy five percent
of these cancers. So yeah, those are a both very
well known risk factors and both modifiable risk factors. And

(03:59):
it's also in a note you know, if you partaken
those things, cutting back or abstinence altogether can still markedly
reduce your risk of cancer in the long term. So
it's not like the damage is already done. Some people think, Okay,
I smoked my whole life, or I've been drinking excessively
for a long time. You know, I've already assigned myself
that permanent risk factor. If you can, if you can

(04:21):
scale back, you can reduce.

Speaker 1 (04:23):
You It's never too late to quit exactly right. It's
never too late to convert salvation. Maybe around the corner
you maybe it'll avoid this type of thing. Well, how
about infections.

Speaker 2 (04:36):
Yeah, so that's the other big kind of driver of
these cancers. HPV infection. That's short for human papaloma virus.
It's a family of viruses. They're very common. They cause
all sorts of things from like run of the mill warts,
but there are a few more serious types such as
HPV sixteen.

Speaker 4 (04:56):
Oh and you know these these they like COVID nineteen
except HPV form no.

Speaker 2 (05:02):
But yeah, you know, when they discover these viruses, they
just assign a number to them, kind of in order
of when they discover them. But it most people, it's
still a very common virus.

Speaker 3 (05:12):
Most everybody's got it.

Speaker 2 (05:14):
Yeah, most people have been exposed in some way, shape
or form, and then your body just gets rid of
it and it's not an issue and then it's just gone.
But a very small percentage of people don't clear it,
and it kind of festers and it can cause kind
of chronic inflammation and eventually cause a regular cell division
and then it causes the cancer.

Speaker 1 (05:32):
So it acts in the same way HPV acts on
cervical cancer if you have HPV or servial cancer is
quite often, if not predominantly, caused by an HPV infection exactly.

Speaker 2 (05:43):
That's it's the exact same mechanism. It's the same family,
it's the same virus as even the same high risk
HPV forms that cause cervical cancer can cause head in
neck cancers.

Speaker 1 (05:53):
Okay, And not to get too graphic or specific, but
the mechanism by which one might contract HV and end
up with throat cancer sort of acts in the same
way as you get it when you end up contracting
cervical cancer.

Speaker 4 (06:10):
Yeah, I mean, okay, direct contact and mouth and yeah right, okay,
So it's a sexually transmitted virus.

Speaker 1 (06:17):
It's a sexually transmitted virus, Okay, regardless where it lands up.
That's the that's the point of it, all right, Oh,
of established that clear it up, that little bit of math. Now,
this other one, this HPV sixteen, I've never heard of that.
Now I've heard of you know, home h people. There's
there's a whole multitude of these HPV viruses out there,
and some of them can, like you said, can cause

(06:38):
warts like genital warts or I guess same thing that
happens in your throat.

Speaker 2 (06:42):
Yeah, or even just the HPV viruses can cause skin
worts too. I mean there's so it's a whole spectrum
of these viruses.

Speaker 1 (06:50):
Okay, and since most people have it, I mean, if
you're sexually active at all, I guess the statistics are
that you probably have at least or at least had
HPV infection.

Speaker 2 (07:01):
Yeah, I mean I think I've seen that if you're
sexually active at all, there's over fifty percent chance that
you've had some sort of exposure to one of these types.

Speaker 1 (07:10):
All right, how about oral, fair and genial cancers that's
caused by HPV as well, because because you say, the
notes suggest that they're on the rise.

Speaker 2 (07:20):
Yeah, so that is that group of cancers that like
the tonsil in the back of the tongue, those are
grouped under the that's a part of your body called
the oropharynx. And yeah, smoking and alcohol related cancers have
been diminishing over time. People are engaging in more generally
responsible behavior and moderation. But these HPV related cancers have

(07:40):
been increasing over time because these viruses are just so
widespread now and exposure is so common. And yeah, the oropharynx.
Is that subset of head and neck cancers that tends
to manifest these cancers?

Speaker 3 (07:54):
All right, well it's pauses eight forty five.

Speaker 1 (07:56):
We'll continue with doctor Joseph Shaughnessy from OHC again online
in oh hair dot com eight at eight sixty eight hundred.
We're gonna get some other risk factors, typical symptoms. Uh,
we're gonna talk about screening a little bit and hopefully
can they be cured? He'll answer that question as well.
Don't go way.

Speaker 3 (08:14):
A forty eight Pigbouck CARECB talk station.

Speaker 1 (08:18):
OHHC my cancer doctors, ohcare dot coms where you find
them on line eighty eight six ft eight hundred in
studio doctor Joseph Shaughnessy, who's a head of net cancer
specialists among others. He's a whole litany of cancer specialist.
But we're talking about head and net cancer and when
we're talking about HPV, I asked about the vaccine and
it was a definite Yes, men and women can get

(08:40):
the HPV vaccine in order to try and stave off this.

Speaker 3 (08:44):
Right.

Speaker 2 (08:45):
Yes, I mean the HPV vaccine is essentially a cancer
prevention vaccine. It is targeted against the high risk forms
of HPV, not just sixteen. They include a bunch of
different variations of it sixteen, eighteen, thirty one, thirty three,
and all these different forms that have been shown to
be high risk. It can prevent infection and in turn

(09:07):
can lower your risk of these HPV related cancers significantly.

Speaker 1 (09:11):
All right, now, I'm going on the side of I
don't care where you are with RFK Junior, I would
recommend getting that one. All right, What are the other
risk factors which which might cause head and neck cancers?

Speaker 2 (09:21):
Generally we've touched on on really the main ones. Yeah,
I mean, you know, there are other certain environmental exposures,
certain kind of chemicals and substances, certain industrial exposures out there.
I mean, that's a very small percentage of cancers related
to that, but there can be you know, just oral hygiene.
If your mouth is in bad shape and you don't

(09:43):
take good care of it and you just have chronic
inflammation in there from bad teeth, et cetera. You know,
that can be a risk factor.

Speaker 1 (09:51):
That should not happen to anybody in my listening audience.
You got doctors Peck and Frew. They're great doctors. They're
dennis to take care of you. Any genetic risk very little.

Speaker 2 (10:01):
Okay, there's not any short answer, is now?

Speaker 3 (10:05):
Okay?

Speaker 1 (10:06):
Cutting to the chase. What do people need to be
looking for in terms of the typical symptoms, because you know,
you get people freaked out of it, like, oh my god,
it is what happening now? Is this related to throat
cancer or something? What are the symptoms?

Speaker 2 (10:19):
Yeah, and that's tricky. There's a whole wide spectrum of
possible symptoms. I mean, what you're really looking out for
is something that is new and different for you and
it's not going away. I mean this can include like
a sore throat that's hanging around. Most sore throats are
not cancer related, but if you have a sore throat
that's persisting despite you giving it some time and some treatment,

(10:42):
that's something to get checked out. There can be wider
red patches in the mouth or throat that won't go away,
or you know, other gross or ulcers in that area.
If you have a change in your voice, like hoarseness
or a muffled voice, that could be a sign of
something going on. A new neck lump that won't go away,

(11:02):
difficulty swallowing, difficulty chewing, numbness or weakness in your face,
or you know, bleeding from your nose or mouth, that
it's more than just a once or twice off deal.
I mean, it's important to note that not all these
things mean you have cancer.

Speaker 1 (11:17):
Well, that's why next you can go to your primary
care physician sort of add an outset and talk to that.
I don't need to call oh if I have a
sinus infection that doesn't clear up with antibiotics immediately.

Speaker 2 (11:28):
Absolutely, your primary care team is your first line that
you know. They're well versed in managing these issues, and
they're very well versed and knowing when to escalate beyond
just conventional stuff like antibiotics or given it a little
extra time.

Speaker 1 (11:43):
All right, So we've talked at we were talked at
length about the lifestyles and screening. So what about the treatability.
How treatable are these is it?

Speaker 3 (11:54):
Can they metastasize?

Speaker 1 (11:56):
I mean, I guess early detection is always usually really
the key to getting in front of it and being
we have to have a greater likelihood of success. But
what's going on in the area of treatments and do
people still have hope if they get diagnosed.

Speaker 2 (12:07):
Yeah, So these cancers are very often absolutely curable, and
as you touched on, early detection and early intervention can
really tilt the scales in your favor. You know, if
it has spread outside the head and neck region, at
that point in time, it's more about controlling the disease
rather than cure. But the first thing we're thinking when

(12:27):
we look at any of these cancer cases is hey,
how can.

Speaker 3 (12:30):
We get to cure here?

Speaker 2 (12:31):
And there's a variety of tools that we have to
get to that.

Speaker 3 (12:34):
Clinical trials going on for any of these types of cancers.

Speaker 2 (12:37):
Absolutely, you know, we're always trying to get better, find
new things, refine our treatment algorithms. I mean, one of
the big pushes in some of these clinical trials is
actually sometimes de intensification of treatment. Sometimes these treatments when
you're doing surgery or chemote therapy can be quite intense,

(12:58):
and we want to find that sweet spot where we're
we're maintaining high cure rates but giving people as little
side effects as possible.

Speaker 1 (13:05):
Well, piling on the incentives for lifestyle changes. While you
may not be able to avoid getting an HPV infection
in these worlds, in this world that we currently live,
in I see that patients with HPV induced or oral
faaryngeal cancer have a very high survival rate over five years.

Speaker 2 (13:24):
Yeah, so you know, we do a great job with
these HPV related cancers. I mean a lot of scary
talk about how you know these viruses are out there.
People are getting these cancers. Often it can be you know,
younger patients getting these cancers. But the good news is
is that the cure rates, Yeah, can be around eighty
five ninety percent, even if it's already spread to the

(13:44):
lymph nodes in the neck regions, still very high cur rate.

Speaker 1 (13:47):
Well, that is very positive information. But again piling on
the lifestyle changes, tell my listeners about the population that
have some smoking slash drinking related.

Speaker 2 (13:59):
Yeah, I mean unfortunate only they just don't do as well.
Those are more stubborn, tricky cancers that can be treatment resistant.
And also you know the effects of smoking and drinking
for decades can make your body less able to tolerate
treatment well. And so the combination of all those factors
can I mean those cancers have a cure rate. I
mean often it can be under fifty percent.

Speaker 3 (14:22):
Stuff.

Speaker 1 (14:22):
You need to know, folks, And if you need a
second opinion, you've already been diagnosed. Get in touch with
OHC at eight eight eight six hundred. Of course, if
your doctor's suggests you need to be referred to a
cancer physician. I'm glad that I had a dear friend
of mine refer me to OHC. I've been at their
great care for years now and I strongly recommend them
as well as just from an independent person who's been

(14:43):
through that experience. Ohcare dot com is where you can
learn more. Doctor Shaughnessy, it's been a real pressure talking
to you this morning. Thanks for all the great work
you do and keep it up and I will again
encourage my listeners to get in touch with you and
related to cancer things.

Speaker 2 (14:57):
Thanks so much for having me.

Speaker 1 (14:58):
My pleasure is all mine. Twenty five folks. Peter Brownson
was in studio full hour Man. It's the twenty fourth
anniversary of the Cincinnati Riots, and we did a deep
dive into that The reality is certainly different than what
was presented in the newspaper. That's be sure you can
get a copy of his book Behind the Lines, The
un Told Stories of the Cincinnati Riots. Did the inside
scoop with the bright Bart news log in tonight Empower

(15:19):
Youamerica dot org and hear from Oliver Lane to London
Bureau Chief on what's happening in Europe, this sort of
populism rise that also seems to be taking place here.
He'll be doing a deep dive into that. Didn't get
the deep dive with Daniel Davis, but you also have
the information from OAHC fifty five KC dot Comy's ryheartmedia software.
While you're there the app tune in tomorrow Judge Inn

(15:39):
and of Politano Congressman Thomas Messy. Just scratching the surface.
Great guests lined up for tomorrow. Sean McMahon, thank you
for producing the program this morning. You always do a
great job. Folks, stick around. Glenbeck's coming right up.