Treatment of Cancer of Larynx or Throat Cancer or Laryngeal Cancer

Treatment of Cancer of Larynx or Throat Cancer or Laryngeal Cancer

The factors that let your doctor decide the required treatment modality will include:

• The stage of the cancer
• The location and size of the tumor
• Whether it will be possible to retain normal breathing, swallowing and phonation
• Whether this is the first attack or a ‘recurrence of the cancer’

Smoking tobacco and drinking alcohol will decrease the efficiency of the treatment.

Let us now take a look at the three standard treatment modalities.

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Radiation Therapy

Radiation therapy is a cancer treatment where high-energy x-rays or other types of radiation are used to kill cancer cells or prevent them from growing. There are two types of radiation therapy.

In External radiation therapy, a machine outside the body is used to send radiation toward the cancer. The total dose of radiation therapy is sometimes divided into several smaller, equal doses that are delivered over a period of time spanning over several days. In Internal radiation therapy, a radioactive substance is placed directly into or near the cancer. The type of radiation therapy used depends on the type and stage of the cancer being treated.

The best results from radiation therapy are obtained in patients who have stopped smoking prior to the initiation of treatment.

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Surgery

Removal of the cancer by operation is the common solution applicable to most stages of the cancer. The names of these surgeries depend upon the extent of removal.

• Cordectomy: The vocal cords are removed
• Supraglottic laryngectomy: The supraglottis is removed
• Hemilaryngectomy: Half of the larynx is removed. Here the voice is saved
• Partial laryngectomy: The patient can talk after this operation since only a part the larynx is removed
• Total laryngectomy: The whole larynx is removed here. Following this, the patient breathes through a surgically created hole in the neck; the operation is called tracheostomy

Laser surgeries make use of laser beams to make sharp bloodless cuts.

Chemotherapy

Here drugs are used to stop the growth of cancer cells, either by killing the cells or by preventing them from dividing. When chemotherapy is taken by mouth or injected into a vein or muscle, the drugs enter the bloodstream and can reach cancer cells throughout the body, this is called systemic chemotherapy. In regional chemotherapy drugs are placed directly into the spinal column, an organ, or a body cavity. A combination of anti cancer drugs may be used.

Apart from these three standard treatments, alternate strategies are being tried out.

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Some of the newer modalities are:

Chemoprevention

Here we use drugs, vitamins, or other substances so as to reduce the risk of acquiring cancer and to prevent recurrence. In persons with a prior history of head and neck cancer, drugs like isotretinoin are being tried out to prevent a second cancer.

Radio sensitizers

These drugs are used in combination with radiation therapy so that a larger number of tumor cells can be killed. Radio sensitizers increase the sensitivity of cancer cells to radiation.(7^✔ ✔Trusted Source
Laryngeal Cancer Treatment (Adult) - Patient Version

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