Throat cancer: An overview

Throat cancer relates to development of cancerous tumors in the throat (pharynx), voice box (larynx) or tonsils. It is also known as pharyngeal cancer, laryngeal cancer or vocal chord cancer Risk of throat cancer can be reduced by not smoking, not chewing tobacco and by limiting the use of alcohol. Throat cancer has a variety of names, depending upon the part of the throat affected. The different parts of the throat are known as the oropharynx, the hypopharynx, and the nasopharynx. At times the larynx, or voice box, is also included.

Throat cancer generally instigates from cells which cover the mucous membrane lining the throat. As the tumor develops, it enters the mucous membrane and the muscle layers. The lungs, neck, lymph nodes and various other organs can progressively be affected.

The throat consists of the pharynx and the larynx. An imperative feature of the throat is the epiglottis, a flap, which separates the esophagus from the windpipe. The epiglottis closes when a person eats or drinks to stop inhalation of food or liquids. The throat also consists of pharynx muscles, esophagus, the trachea and blood vessels. The hyoid bone under the chin and collar bone are the only bones in the throat area.

Cancer of the throat can be cured totally if the cancer is detected in the initial stage. If the cancer spreads in the surrounding tissues or lymph nodes in the neck, then 55-65% of the patients can be cured but if it spreads to body parts outside the neck and head, the cancer can’t be cured and treatment then focuses on improving the quality of life. After the treatment, patients normally require a therapy which could help one with verbal communication and swallowing. Few patients are not able to gulp down their food or liquids and hence are fed via a feeding tube.

Among the variety of cancers, the throat cancer is the deadly one. The fatality rate is superior to any other category of the cancer. The explanation for this is the detection of the tumor in the last stage of the growth. The throat cancer symptoms are similar to the everyday troubles like sore throat, pain in throat making its detection in the early stage tricky.

The major reason for the throat cancer is found to be the usage of tobacco. The use of tobacco in any form leads to throat cancer. Contradictory to the other tumors where the use of the tobacco in smoke-less form diminishes the possibility of the development of cancer, the same is not true in the case of cancer of throat.