Throat Cancer

Recently, you've noticed a pale lump inside your mouth that doesn't seem to be healing. It's not like anything you've seen before. What you may have encountered is an early sign of oral or throat (oropharyngeal) cancer.

Cancer that forms in tissues of the pharynx (the hollow tube inside the neck that starts behind the nose and ends at the top of the windpipe and esophagus). Throat cancer includes cancer of the nasopharynx (the upper part of the throat behind the nose), the oropharynx (the middle part of the pharynx), and the hypopharynx (the bottom part of the pharynx).

Symptoms of Throat Cancer

Cancer of the pharynx is far more likely than cancer of the larynx.

A symptom is an indication of disease, illness, injury, or that something is not right in the body. Symptoms are felt or noticed by a person, but may not easily be noticed by anyone else. For example, chills, weakness, achiness, shortness of breath, and a cough may be symptoms of pneumonia.

If you do suffer from throat cancer, early diagnosis of the condition is essential to getting the best results from treatment options. Thus, it is important to understand the symptoms of throat cancer.

A cancer may also cause symptoms such as fever, fatigue, or weight loss. This may be because cancer cells use up much of the body’s energy supply or release substances that change the body’s metabolism.

Causes of Throat Cancer

Throat cancers is often caused by excessive tobacco use and/or excessive alcohol use.

Oral and throat cancer appears to occur as a result of damage to the DNA in the cells in your mouth and throat. Using tobacco and excessive alcohol consumption can damage these tissues.

oral and throat and throat cancer cancer.Oral seems to occur as a result of damage to the DNA in cells in the mouth and throat. By using tobacco and excessive alcohol consumption can damage tissue. The combination of smoking or chewing tobacco and alcohol abuse creates a much higher risk of oral and throat cancer.

Treatments of Throat Cancer

Surgery. The type of surgery you may need depends on the size and location of the tumor. Doctors can surgically remove tumors that haven't grown into nearby tissues with relatively few side effects.

Smart Beams' Target Tumors - video
SmartBeam" technology, or intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), is making cancer treatments safer and more effective.

Chemotherapy. Chemotherapy uses drugs to destroy cancer cells. You take these drugs either through your veins (intravenously) or orally.

Avoid mouthwashes that contain any amount of alcohol. Ask your doctor or nurse to suggest a mild or medicated mouthwash that you might use. For example, mouthwash with sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) is non-irritating.

Laser Surgery

Cancer of the larynx is most often diagnosed in people over 55 and is four times more common in men than women. It is one of the top 10 cancers diagnosed in men and women.