Beastie Boy Adam Yauch Has Cancer

Beastie Boy Adam Yauch, who also goes by the name “MCA,” has announced that he’s about to undergo treatment for a cancerous tumor in his left parotid gland, which has caused the Beastie Boys to cancel their upcoming concert tour and postpone their new album release. The news has left many people with questions about this type of cancer, its actual location, and, of course, its prognosis. The good news is that it seems the cancer was caught early and should respond well to treatment with a favorable outcome and little or no impact on Yauch’s ability to sing. First, the parotid gland is the largest of the salivary glands, which are paired organs located around the jaw. The parotid is at the back and bottom of the cheek and is accompanied by the submandibular (under the jaw) and sublingual (under the tongue) salivary glands. The salivary glands are quite far from, and well above, the voice box, or larynx, with its vocal cords. This is why surgery on these glands would not typically be expected to impact speech, voice, or singing. And because the glands are paired, one of each type on either side of the face, the removal of one should have little to no impact on the amount of saliva produced either. For a Beastie Boy — or any singer — this is an important consideration. The parotid gland is the most common location for salivary gland tumors, accounting for about 50-85 percent of cases. Interestingly, however, most salivary gland tumors (50-80 percent) are beni...
Source: Dr. Z's Medical Report - Category: Physicians With Health Advice Authors: Tags: Healthy Living Adam Yauch Beastie Boys Benign blog cancer Career community Dr Z Dr. Z's medical report Ed Zimney Everyday Health Lifestyle Malignant MCA medblog Music Online Support Parotid Gland Prognosis Salivary Source Type: blogs