With head and neck cancer claimed to be the world’s sixth most common type of cancer, there now seems to be a further cause for concern as a 2010 study has revealed that nearly three quarters of head and neck cancer patients receiving radiation therapy experienced hearing loss.

The various, current treatment methods for head and neck cancer, which include surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy, applied separately or combined, may affect the sensorineural auditory system and the nerves of the inner ear, causing temporary impairment or permanent hearing damage.

While the decision on the type of treatment of the tumour will be based upon assessing its’ size and location, development stage, curability and the patient’s overall health condition, radiation therapy is increasingly being used on head and neck tumours. Even though, any one type of radiation treatment method may have an adverse impact on the patient’s short to long term hearing ability, nearly all of the radiation has been shown to reach the internal auditory system.

The report found that nearly three quarters of the participating patients exposed to radiation therapy suffered some form of impaired hearing comparing less favourably with just under 50 per cent in a control group of non-therapy radiation patients. Further contrast was shown by a severe hearing loss disparity experienced in 6.4 per cent of right ears and 8.5 per cent of left ears in the radiation-treated group, as opposed to just 0.7 per cent in the right ears and 1.4 per cent in the left ears of control group participants.

Radiation treatment participants were shown to be more likely to have suffered severe hearing loss – by a ratio of 19.1 percent versus 2.8 per cent in the control group – with further similarities to those suffering a noise induced hearing loss observed with the study group. Untreated group members were more likely to feel lonely, depressed, worried or anxious, participating in fewer social activities, and becoming disorientated from their immediate environment.

In conclusion, the study highlighted that hearing impairment amongst those suffering with cancer, as well as elderly patients, remains a major problem and a growing concern for their quality of life when undergoing cancer treatment by radiation therapy.