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Why SMILE?
Treatment in the head and neck changes how a child's face grows. It disrupts the growth of a child's facial bones, teeth and soft tissue. This can cause lasting asymmetry, deformity and poor dental health. These changes seriously affect a survivor's self-image and mental wellbeing. Correcting them is difficult and often takes multiple surgeries. The process puts significant stress on patients and their families.
These images show a patient treated for head and neck cancer. She was treated for rhabdomyosarcoma at age 5. Now 25, she has marked deformation on the left side of her face and significant dental problems. Her upper teeth are small and she has few molars. She is likely to lose all her upper teeth within a few years.
Our Research
Radiotherapy is effective but we do not yet know how it affects a growing face. It uses high-energy beams to treat cancer and is essential for many children, often used alongside chemotherapy or surgery. Its impact on growing bones and teeth is likely to depend on the child's age at treatment as well as the location and size of the tumour. In SMILE, we are mapping how tissue in the face responds to treatment at different ages, so that gentler techniques can be developed and those already affected can be better supported.
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