What We Can Help With

We may be able to help with general questions about:

• throat, head and neck cancer
• HPV-related throat cancer
• symptoms and when to seek medical advice
• diagnosis, scans, biopsies and medical terminology
• treatment options and what they may involve
• side effects and recovery
• swallowing, speech, voice and breathing changes
• nutrition and eating after treatment
• preparing for appointments
• questions to ask your clinical team
• support for families, carers and loved ones

We cannot give a diagnosis, review individual scans or test results, provide a second medical opinion, or tell you what treatment you should have. Those decisions must come from your own medical team, who know your full medical history and have access to your clinical records.

Before You Send A Question

You may find the answer you need in our existing support pages, including:

• Frequently Asked Questions
• Medical Terminology
• Nutrition
• Buddy System
• Available Support
• Help Coping
• Patient Journeys

If you still have a question after reading those pages, you are welcome to contact us.

How The Service Works

Send us your question using the contact form below.

We will review your question and, where appropriate, pass it to someone with relevant experience or clinical knowledge.

We will aim to respond as soon as we can. Some questions may take longer than others, especially if we need to seek input from one of our advisers.

Please check your junk or spam folder if you are waiting for a reply.

Important Medical Advice

This service is for general information and support only. It is not a substitute for medical advice from your GP, consultant, specialist nurse, dentist, pharmacist or other healthcare professional.

If you have symptoms that are new, persistent, getting worse, or unusual for you, please do not wait for a reply from us. Contact your GP, dentist or another appropriate healthcare professional.

If you need urgent medical advice, use NHS 111 or your local urgent-care service.

If you are struggling to breathe, coughing or spitting up more than a small amount of blood, have severe pain, chest pain, are very unwell, or you believe it may be a medical emergency, call 999 or go to A&E.

Send Us Your Question

Please include as much general information as you feel comfortable sharing, such as:

• whether your question is about you or someone else

• where you are in the cancer pathway, for example awaiting diagnosis, newly diagnosed, in treatment, recovering, or living with long-term effects

• what you would like help understanding

Please do not send sensitive medical documents, scan images or urgent clinical information through this form.

Meet Our Clinical Advisory Team

The Throat Cancer Foundation is supported by a clinical advisory team with experience across head and neck cancer, oncology, surgery, nursing, HPV, swallowing, rehabilitation, research and patient care.

Their expertise helps guide our information, awareness work and support resources.

Professor Christopher Nutting

Professor Simon Rogers

Clinical Advisory Team – Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Reconstruction and Quality of Life

Professor Simon Rogers has been Consultant Maxillofacial Surgeon at the University Hospital Aintree and Honorary Reader at University of Liverpool since January 1999. Specialising in oral and oropharyngeal cancer and microvascular tissue reconstruction, he is part of a multidisciplinary Head and Neck team.

In 2002, he was awarded a Hunterian Professorship from the Royal College of Surgeons of England, earned through his research into the relationship between function and quality of life following primary surgery for oral and oropharyngeal cancer. He has several ongoing HRQOL studies, has published widely on this topic, and has been an invited speaker at many scientific meetings – at national and international level. In both 2003 and 2007, Professor Rogers was invited to join the National Cancer Research Network Head and Neck Cancer Clinical Studies Group.

Recipient of a Personal Chair from Edge Hill University in 2007, he is involved in their Faculty of Health at EHU as part of the newly founded Evidence-based Practice Research Centre – a unit primarily concerned with clinically-based research including investigations into chronic diseases, quality of life, supportive and palliative care.

Professor Margaret Stanley OBE

Clinical Advisory Team – HPV, Virology, Immunology and Cancer Prevention

Professor Margaret Stanley OBE is Professor of Epithelial Biology in the Department of Pathology at the University of Cambridge.

She has served on several research council committees and was a member of the Biology and Biotechnology Science Research Council from 2000 to 2003, as well as a member of the Spongiform Encephalopathies Advisory Committee (SEAC) that advised the UK government on prion diseases. In 2004, she was awarded the OBE for services to Virology, before being made a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2005.

Professor Stanley’s research interests have always concerned the biology of cervical epithelium and how and why cancer of the cervix develops. Her current research focuses on mechanisms of host defence and the development of vaccines and immunotherapies against HPV.

She has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals, has given keynote or plenary presentations at national and international meetings, and has been advising the Throat Cancer Foundation since the charity was founded.

Professor Mary Wells

Clinical Advisory Team – Cancer Nursing, Survivorship and Rehabilitation

Professor Mary Wells was Professor of Cancer Nursing Research and Practice at the NMAHP-RU, University of Stirling and is now Lead Nurse for Research at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.

Mary began her career in Guy’s Hospital in London and has been involved in Oncology for the majority of her career. She completed her Masters in Cancer Care at the University of London and became a Research Practitioner at the Institute, working with clinicians at the Royal Marsden and coordinating a ground-breaking trial of nurse-led follow-up care for lung cancer patients.

After moving to Dundee to work as a Macmillan Clinical Nurse Specialist in Radiotherapy and Oncology, Dr Wells was appointed Clinical Research Fellow in Cancer Nursing at NHS Tayside and the University of Dundee. After taking up her role at the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Dr Wells completed a PhD and has conducted a range of research studies in supportive cancer care. Her research has focused on cancer survivorship and rehabilitation. She has been a member of the Executive Board of the European Oncology Nursing Society since 2009, and its Secretary since 2011. She is a Specialist Advisor to Macmillan Cancer Support and the Consequences of Cancer Treatment Collaborative.

Dr Joanna Nixon

Clinical Advisory Team – Clinical Oncology and Head and Neck Cancer

Dr Nixon is a Consultant Clinical Oncologist specialising in the treatment of Head and Neck cancers and soft tissue and bone sarcomas at the Beatson oncology Centre, Glasgow, UK.

She is clinical Lead for the National Scottish Sarcoma Network (SSN) since 2015 and also Chairwoman for the Epidemiology and Survivorship CSG subgroup. Dr
Nixon is also a Visiting Professor at University of Strathclyde.

Dr Nixon is a principal investigator and co-investigator in many national and international sarcoma clinical trials and has a medical education portfolio as Visiting Professor, Senior Clinical Lecturer and Mentor.

She has completed an MSc in Public Health and has been rewarded with a PhD in Radiotherapy in 2013. In 2018 she was awarded a fellowship by the Faculty of Medical Leaders in Healthcare(FMLM) for her leadership in promoting patient care.

She is a member of National and International societies including the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer, NCRI, British Sarcoma Group (BSG) and BAHNO and also a Scottish Quality Improvement and Safety(SQS) Fellow.

Yvonne McLaren

Clinical Advisory Team – Dysphagia, Eating and Drinking After Treatment

Yvonne McClaren brings a rare and valuable combination of lived experience, professional expertise and practical insight to the Throat Cancer Foundation’s Clinical Advisory Team.

Diagnosed with oropharyngeal cancer in 2018, Yvonne underwent extensive treatment, including surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. As part of her recovery, she lived with severe swallowing difficulties and was unable to eat orally for 15 months, relying on a feeding tube during that time.

That experience shaped her work and advocacy. Yvonne has become a powerful voice for people living with dysphagia and for those facing the eating and drinking challenges that can follow head and neck cancer treatment. Her work focuses not only on safe eating, but on the social, emotional and deeply personal importance of food, shared meals and dignity at the table.

Yvonne is the founder of GAG | eating life – Good As it Gets, an international platform sharing practical resources, honest reflections and lived-experience insight into eating with dysphagia. She is also a consultant, speaker and author, contributing to work with organisations including Nutricia’s Oncology Reference Group and the International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation Initiative Australian Reference Group.

Her input will help the Throat Cancer Foundation develop better information, support and resources for people affected by swallowing difficulties after throat and head and neck cancer treatment.

Because eating is more than nutrition. It is identity, connection and dignity.