Layman's Terms

Susan just sent me the link to the American Cancer Society's webpage. There they do a great job of explaining things in layman's terms so I can understand them.

Here is what the ACS says about the surgery...

"In most cases, the cancer and some of the surrounding salivary gland or soft tissue will be surgically removed. If the cancer is high grade (more likely to grow and spread quickly) or if it has already spread to lymph nodes, the head and neck surgeon will usually remove lymph nodes from the same side of the neck in an operation called a neck dissection. Before surgery, ask your surgeon exactly what will be done during the operation, whether there are other options, and what side effects you can expect. Make sure that your surgeon has experience in the technique.
Salivary gland surgery: Since salivary gland tumors occur in the parotid gland about 80% of the time, we will first describe surgery of the parotid gland. Surgery is complicated by the fact that the facial nerve, which controls movement on the same side of the face, passes through the gland."

"Most parotid gland cancers start in the outside part of the gland, called the superficial lobe. These can be treated by removing only the superficial lobe. This usually spares the facial nerve and does not interfere with facial movement."

"If your cancer has spread into deeper tissues, the surgeon will remove the entire gland and might also remove your facial nerve. If your surgeon has mentioned this surgery as a possibility, ask about operations to repair the nerve and ways to treat side effects caused by removing the nerve. If the cancer has invaded other tissues near your parotid gland, these tissues might also need to be removed."

I also had some questions about what causes parotid gland cancer and the ACS says they still don't know a lot about what causes it...

"We know very little about the actual causes of most salivary gland cancers. Researchers have found that some salivary gland cancers have DNA abnormalities in certain genes. Abnormalities of some genes may change the way a cell grows or multiplies, or how the cell is recognized by the immune system. Exposure to radiation or certain carcinogens (cancer-causing chemicals) may result in these DNA changes but in most cases their cause is not known."