Why the exact tumour site comes before any treatment discussion
Head and neck cancer is not one disease. The National Cancer Institute describes it as a group of cancers that start in different sites, including the mouth, throat, voice box, salivary glands, sinuses and nasal cavity. Each site has its own behaviour, its own staging logic and its own treatment options. A hospital reviewing your case in China cannot judge whether further surgery, radiotherapy or another approach is appropriate until it knows which site was involved.
This is why the first thing to establish is not 'head and neck cancer' but the precise diagnosis. Ask your original treating team for the pathology report that names the site and the tumour type. If the report uses a term you do not recognise, write it down exactly as it appears. A Chinese specialist reading a translated summary without the original pathology wording may be working from an incomplete picture.
The site also shapes what 'previous treatment' means. Surgery to the mouth affects speech and swallowing differently from surgery to the larynx or a salivary gland. Radiotherapy to the neck may have been given with a specific intent and dose. Without the site, the receiving team cannot interpret the results you are describing.
What to include when describing previous treatment
A useful previous-treatment summary answers four questions: what was done, when, by whom, and with what result. Start with the sequence of events rather than a single label. If you had surgery, state the date and the procedure name as written in your records. If you had radiotherapy, state the dates, the area treated and whether the course was completed. If you had chemotherapy or another systemic treatment, state the medicines and the number of cycles.
Do not summarise this as 'I had treatment in 2023'. The receiving team needs the order of events because it affects what options remain. A patient who completed radiotherapy six months ago is in a different position from one who had surgery last month. The gap between treatments matters, and so does whether each treatment was finished as planned.
If you do not have a written summary, ask your original hospital for a treatment summary letter. This is a normal request. If the letter is in another language, arrange a translation and keep the original alongside it. Do not rely on memory alone for dates, medicine names or radiation fields.
One practical point: keep the pathology report, operation note, radiotherapy summary and imaging reports together in one file. When you contact a Chinese hospital, you can then share a consistent set of documents rather than sending fragments over several messages.
Explaining results: response, recurrence and current symptoms
The result of previous treatment is not only whether the tumour responded. It also includes what happened afterwards. State whether your treating team recorded a complete response, a partial response, stable disease or recurrence. Use the wording from your records rather than your own interpretation. If you are unsure what the last scan showed, say so plainly and ask the receiving team what they need to see.
Current symptoms belong in this section. Describe swallowing difficulty, voice changes, pain, weight loss, a new lump or any bleeding in plain terms. Say when each symptom started and whether it is getting worse. Do not wait until a consultation to mention a symptom that is changing, and do not delay local medical assessment because you are preparing an overseas enquiry.
If you have had a recurrence, state when it was found and how it was confirmed. If it was suspected but not confirmed, say that too. The distinction changes the urgency and the type of review the hospital may consider.
Avoid presenting a conclusion such as 'the treatment failed'. Describe what the records show and let the receiving clinician interpret it. This keeps the summary factual and reduces the risk of the team working from an inaccurate premise.
Speech and swallowing goals after previous treatment
Previous treatment to the head and neck often leaves lasting effects on speaking and swallowing. When you describe your goals, be specific about function rather than naming a procedure. For example: 'I can swallow soft food but not liquids safely', or 'my voice is hoarse and I cannot speak for more than a few minutes'. These descriptions help the team understand what matters to you.
Do not ask for a guarantee that a particular function will be preserved. No clinician can promise that before assessment. Instead, ask what the team needs to know about your current speech and swallowing, and whether they want records from a speech and language therapist or a swallowing study.
If you have had a feeding tube, say when it was placed and whether it is still in use. If you have had tracheostomy, state whether it is still in place. These details affect anaesthesia planning, airway management and rehabilitation.
Keep the goal statement short and concrete. A receiving team can work with 'I want to eat normally again' if you add what you can and cannot do now. It cannot work with a goal that has no functional detail.
Distinguishing proposed resection from reconstruction
If further surgery is being considered, separate two questions in your own mind and in your communication: removing the tumour and rebuilding the area. These are different decisions with different risks and different recovery. A hospital may be able to assess one while the other depends on findings at the time of surgery.
When you write to a Chinese hospital, do not ask 'can you do my surgery' as a single question. Ask whether the team can review your records for possible resection, and separately whether reconstruction would be part of the same plan or a later stage. Ask who would make that decision and what information they still need.
This distinction also affects what records you send. Imaging helps assess the tumour. Photographs or descriptions of the affected area, dental records and any previous reconstruction notes help assess the rebuild. Sending only one set may leave half the question unanswered.
The hospital decides suitability. An enquiry or a records review does not confirm that surgery will be offered, and it does not establish access to any particular treatment in China.
How to send this to a Chinese hospital without rewriting your first consultation
The goal is a focused handover, not a full life history. Write a one-page summary with four headings: exact diagnosis and site, previous treatment with dates, results and current symptoms, and speech and swallowing function. Attach the supporting reports. This is the document a receiving team can read quickly.
Do not send a complete medical archive in your first message. A short summary and a list of available records is enough to start. If the hospital wants more, it will ask. This keeps the initial contact manageable and respects the team's time.
Ask the hospital what it needs before you translate everything. Some teams want the original pathology slides for review; others want imaging on disc. Ask specifically rather than sending everything and hoping.
If you use a coordination service, its role is practical: helping you organise records, arrange appointments and communicate. It does not decide suitability or treatment. The treating hospital and its licensed clinicians make those decisions.
For confirmed services related to this topic, the head and neck tumour surgery reference page is listed under the related link below.
A brief next step: prepare your one-page summary and the key reports, then send a short enquiry describing your exact diagnosis, previous treatment and current question. An initial enquiry is free and does not require buying a proxy consultation. The hospital will decide what further information it needs.
Sources & scope of this guide
References and official service information relevant to this guide.
This is general planning information and has not been individually reviewed by a doctor. Medical decisions and personal treatment advice come from your treating clinicians.