Cancer is the most disastrous and painful disease, which can affect and destroy a human mind and body forever. Cancer always brings an end to life but in the contemporary age, medical science has reached a new level of curing where getting free from cancer is not that difficult.
Throat Cancer is a common term, which refers to cancer of the pharynx and larynx. The various areas inside a human body which get involved in throat cancer are the nasopharynx, oropharynx, hypopharynx, glottis, supraglottis, and subglottis. Any form of abnormal cells, that create a tumor or metastasize and get developed inside the pharynx and larynx leads to throat cancer.
What leads to throat cancer?
Well, till now the medical science has got no proper evidence behind the occurrence of throat cancer. The research is still ongoing. The cancerous cells get develop when genetic mutations allow the cells to grow uncontrollably in the human body, to form tumours, and slowly it starts spreading to the other areas of the human body. This happens mostly when a person is highly addicted to various toxic materials like cigarettes, alcohol, infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) and Pan Masala.
It is said, that our lifestyle or way of leading life leads to such a heinous disease. An individual who is a chain smoker or an excess alcoholic makes the path for such disease. The chewing of betel nuts also leads to such disease. The most common factor, behind this particular cancer, has been HPV which occurs mostly due to throat cancer. The two most common throat cancers are Squamous cell carcinoma and Adenocarcinoma.
The various signs and symptoms of throat cancer are:
The throat symptoms for cancer differ from person to person. The common signs are always nonspecific. Every person will have variable symptoms which lead to difficulty in diagnosis. Still, the most common throat symptoms are
- Voice change or as we hoarseness of the voice.
- Sore throat which is mostly chronic
- Throat discomfort
- Ear pain
- Difficulty in breathing
- A lump in the neck
- Sudden weight loss
- Cough
- Difficulty in swallowing certain foods
Treatment for throat cancer
The cancer treatment, in this case, depends completely on the seriousness and the extent to which cancer has spread in the body. The various methods of cure are:
- Surgery: The various types of surgery in throat cancer are transoral laser microsurgery, endoscopic surgery, laser surgery, and robotic surgery.
- Chemotherapy: These are drugs that make the tumors shrink or kill the cancer cells through radiation treatment.
- Radiation therapy: This treatment involves placemthe ent of radioactive beads close to a tumor.
- Proton therapy: This radiation is done with pencil beam technology which is directed towards the tumor.
- Cancer Clinical Trials: The use of drugs and various other methods if all the radiation process fails.
Throat cancer is a very serious illness that makes a person struggle over a long period and in the end, brings only death. Medical science has come up with various innovations to save a life from such diseases.
