Why Choose the University of Colorado Cancer Center for Head and Neck Cancer Treatment?

We’re the Region’s Only NCI-Designated Comprehensive Cancer Center

The University of Colorado Cancer Center  is the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in the Rocky Mountain Region—and one of only 39 in the United States.

This designation means that we are recognized as leaders in providing outstanding cancer care and cancer-related education, and in driving new research. No other cancer center in the region offers the expertise we do.

We Specialize in Head and Neck Cancers

There are more than 100 different types of cancer. To ensure that we are always leading care at the cutting edge, UCCC has expert teams that each specialize in a small number of different cancer types.

Because we are sub-specialized in head and neck cancers, we have treated the most common and the rarest types of cancer. And more experience leads to better outcomes.

  • Our team is a highly successful multidisciplinary clinical group that includes outstanding head and neck surgeons and medical oncologists, radiation oncologists
  • We specialize only in the treatment of head and neck cancers
  • We are supported by world experts in the microscopic classification of cancers and experts in the interpretation of X-rays, CTs, PET/CTs and other scans—UCCC pathologists
  • We offer second opinions on head and neck cancers
  • We have access to many new treatments, including the latest drugs and vaccines for treating head and neck cancers, through our involvement in clinical trials

We Communicate Regularly about Your Case

Your medical team meets weekly at our Head and Neck Tumor Board Conference so we can work together to evaluate your case, plan and deliver treatment, manage side effects and support you after your treatment is completed. Others attending these conferences include:

  • doctors based at the University of Colorado Cancer Center affiliate sites, Denver Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Denver Health Medical Center
  • community head and neck cancer surgeons and radiation therapists

We Offer the Most Comprehensive Radiation Oncology Options

Our radiation oncologists and therapists offer state-of-the-art technology and the most comprehensive and advanced radiation options in the Rocky Mountain region for patients with head and neck cancer. These include:

  • highly individualized computerized treatment planning for three-dimensional radiation treatment using IMRT (intensity modulated radiation therapy), which delivers the highest treatment dose to tumors while sparing normal tissue
  • radiation therapists who are skilled in re-irradiation if needed and are also experts in stereotactic radiation, which uses a highly focused beam directed toward a small, localized tumor target

We Offer the Region’s Only Multidisciplinary Thyroid Cancer Clinic

Patients with advanced and rare thyroid cancers are evaluated jointly by our medical oncologists and endocrinologists. Thyroid cancer surgeons and radiation oncologists also participate in the care plan. For these patients, we offer clinical research studies of new chemotherapy and radiation treatments as well as conventional therapies.

We’re Part of a Larger Collaborative Team

In addition to reviewing information from outside doctors, all our doctors can:

  • Instantly access computerized records within the University of Colorado system
  • Instantly see all consultations and tests conducted within the University of Colorado Hospital system
  • Easily make referrals between different types of doctor within the University of Colorado Hospital system, covering all specialties from A to Z

We Offer Access to Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Some patients choose to complement their medical treatment with lifestyle changes and other benefits available through our doctor-led Center for Integrative Medicine.

We Offer Comprehensive Patient Support

You will find the support you need through the Monfort Cancer Resource Center, our membership in the Lance Armstrong Foundation LIVESTRONG Centers of Excellence Program, and the Cancer Information and Counseling Line.

We Have the Best Survival Rates in Colorado

Based on Colorado Cancer Registry data, the survival rates for patients treated within the University of Colorado Cancer Center are higher than those for the state as a whole, especially at the 5-year mark.

We’re One of the Nation’s Best Cancer Centers

U.S. News and World Report has consistently ranked the University of Colorado Cancer Center’s adult patient care center at University of Colorado Hospital among the best cancer programs in the nation.

  • In 2007, we ranked 35th overall and among the ten best in the West
  • 5280 Magazine consistently votes our cancer doctors among the best in Colorado
  • We have more cancer doctors listed among Best Doctors in America than any other cancer center in the region