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Laryngeal cancer

What does laryngeal cancer feel like?

What does laryngeal cancer feel like?

Trouble swallowing: Throat cancer can cause pain or a burning sensation when chewing and swallowing food. You might feel like food is sticking in your throat. A lump in your neck: You may have a lump in your neck caused by an enlarged lymph node.

Laryngeal cancer

What is laryngeal cancer? How is it recognized? Any steps awaiting the patient towards treatment? How is it rehabilitated? Here is your guide to laryngeal cancer in the following article:

Laryngeal cancer and its types

Laryngeal cancer and types of laryngeal cancer is a name given to a group of cancers that may spread in the throat area, including: the pharynx (the muscular canal in the throat), the vocal cords, and the tonsils. Due to the multiplicity of organs included in the term larynx , we find a variety of types of cancers that may affect it:

  1. Squamous cell carcinoma: This type of cancer affects the flat cells that line the throat.
  2. Adenocarcinoma: A cancer that targets the glands.
  3. Oropharyngeal cancer, which in turn is divided into: nasopharyngeal cancer, oropharyngeal cancer, and hypopharyngeal cancer
  4. Vocal tendon cancer: It  affects an individual’s vocal fold area.

Throat cancer symptoms

Sometimes it can be difficult to feel laryngeal cancer early because of the symptoms that may be interpreted as normal, so listen to yourself carefully and turn to your doctor if you suffer from these symptoms and do not improve within two to three weeks:

  • Difficulty swallowing.
  • Sore throat.
  • Weight loss.
  • change in voice
  • Swollen lymph nodes .
  • pain in the ear.
  • Whistling or grunting .
  • Persistent cough and may be accompanied by blood.

Throat cancer causes and risk factors

It was found that men are more likely to get throat cancer than women, but theories suggest that this is not the result of the type as much as it is due to the health behaviors that characterize each of them, and science has not succeeded so far to ascertain the specific reasons that lead to the production of cancer cells in the larynx, except They go to a group of factors that seriously increase the risk of infection, which are the following:

  • smoking.
  • Excessive alcohol consumption.
  • Malnutrition.
  • Poor dental and oral health .
  • genetic factor.
  • Exposure to asbestos used in construction.
  • Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).
  • Human papillomavirus (HPV).

laryngeal cancer diagnosis

During your appointment with the doctor, first expect that he will review your medical history and may ask you about some details in it to confirm the genetic factor and the diseases that you have had previously. Do some tests, which may include:

1. Biopsy examination

A biopsy  is a procedure for taking a sample of foreign tissue and examining it in laboratories to confirm the type of tumor. The biopsies that a doctor may order include all of the following:

  • Conventional biopsy: The specialist makes a small incision and takes a tissue sample, under general anesthesia and in the operating room.
  • Needle biopsy: The doctor inserts a thin needle directly into the tumor site and takes a sample of cells.
  • Endoscopic biopsy: The doctor uses the endoscope to gain access to the tumor tissue and take a sample with it.

2. Cancer staging

If the biopsy showed that it was cancerous cells, the biopsy test will also tell you about the stage of the tumor, and the meaning here is how deep and spread it  in the body:

  • Stage 0: The tumor is only in the top layer of cells, in the affected part of the larynx.
  • Stage 1: The tumor is less than 2 centimeters and confined to the affected part of the larynx.
  • Stage 2: The tumor is between 2 and 4 centimeters and may have started to grow in an adjacent area.
  • Stage 3: The tumor is larger than 4 centimeters and has started to spread in the larynx and has reached one lymph node.
  • Stage 4: The tumor has spread to the lymph nodes or to more distant organs in the body.

3. Various imaging tests

Imaging tests are used to determine the extent of the disease in the body. In the case of throat cancer, you may need tests to examine the chest, neck, head, and even the body as a whole. The most important types of imaging are:

  • Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI): This test uses strong magnetic radio waves to create detailed images of the organs within the entire neck area. The MRI looks for tumors spreading to the rest of the body.
  • Positron emission tomography (PET):  This test relies  on injecting a type of radioactive sugar into the patient’s blood. The scan creates images of areas of radioactivity in the body where cancer cells react differently from body cells to this radioactive sugar, and this technique is often used In advanced stages of cancer.
  • Computed tomography (CT): An X-ray computed tomography scan can produce an image of the soft tissues and organs in the body, which helps doctors determine the extent of damage to tissues in the lymph nodes and lungs.
  • Radiography with Barium: It is also a thick, radioactive liquid. It works on the same principle as positron emission tomography, except that it specifically examines the digestive system, where the patient swallows barium and undergoes x-rays.
  • Chest X-ray: If your doctor suspects that cancer has reached your lungs, he must direct you to perform a chest X- ray to confirm the accuracy of his suspicions.

laryngeal cancer treatment

Because laryngeal cancer is diverse, and because it may vary in its stages, it is natural that there are many ways to treat it, so the doctor may resort to one of the following options and may even combine more than one treatment:

1. Surgery

If there is a good chance of removing the cancerous tumor , the doctor will most likely choose one of the following surgeries:

  • Laparoscopic surgery: During this surgery, the surgeon uses an endoscope that contains a light and a camera at the end and completes traditional or laser surgery. The endoscope is used in the very early stages of cancer.
  • Vocal cord excision: If the tumor has spread to the vocal cords, the surgeon may need to remove all or some of the vocal cords.
  • Removal of the voice box: If the cancer goes beyond the vocal cords, and spreads to the entire voice box, the doctor may need to remove the entire voice box, in this case the patient may remain able to speak after surgery, but sometimes he may lose this ability, so he has to learn about Its ability to speak without the box.
  • Resection of parts of the pharynx:  This is done if the tumor targets part of the muscular duct in the pharyngeal region.
  • Neck dissection: If the tumor has affected some of the lymph nodes, the surgeon will have to dissect the neck and remove some of the glands as needed.

2. Radiation therapy

After removing the tumor by surgery, the doctor will most likely direct you to undergo some radiation sessions in order to destroy any cancerous cells that may remain after the operation in order to completely eliminate the cancer. Types of radiotherapy:

  • A for the treatment of localized radiation: in this type of radiation therapy are planting radioactive seeds directly into the tumor , or in turn , whereupon is aligned to destroy cancer cells high degree of radiation.
  • Modified or 3D radiotherapy:  These are two types of radiotherapy that require tailoring an individual radiotherapy intervention for each patient according to the location and conditions of his tumor and is the most common method of treatment.

3. Chemotherapy

In cases of large or advanced tumors that have reached the lymph nodes and other organs and tissues, your doctor may recommend chemotherapy. In addition to radiation therapy, radiation destroys existing cancer cells while chemotherapy slows and fights the growth of malignant cells.

4. Targeted therapy

This treatment requires interfering with specific molecules responsible for tumor growth and influencing them to prevent and stop the growth of cancer cells. Until today, there is only one type of targeted therapy that is used to fight throat cancer, while more are being developed through research and experiments.

Healing after laryngeal cancer treatment

With the sensitivity of the throat area and the importance of the organs located in it for simple daily life, the patient often needs stages of recovery that may take some time, and some complementary treatments for speech therapists and physical treatments , and the difficulties that a patient with throat cancer may face after recovery are:

  • Difficulty swallowing and tasting.
  • breathing difficulties.
  • Difficulty speaking and limited ability to speak.
  • Hardening of the skin around the neck.
  • Deformities of the neck and part of the face.

Of course, the majority of problems you can solve and live with, but for that you need to communicate with doctors, specialists and professionals, so you have to know your rights well and study and understand what you suffer from in order to go to the most appropriate medical address for you.

source : wikipedia

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