An overview on throat cancer:

Cancer that starts to develop in your throat is known as throat cancer. It either attacks the pharynx that is your throat or the larynx that is your voice box. A muscular tube that starts behind your nose and extends till your neck is called the throat, and the voice box is situated below your throat. This voice box contains cartilage and voice cords. The vibration of your vocal cords is responsible for the sounds you make while talking. Flat cells inside your throat are usually where throat cancer starts from, says Dr. Soumen Das, a famous head and neck oncologist based in Kolkata.

Types:

There are mainly two places where throat cancers take place, one is pharyngeal cancer that occurs in our throat, and the other is laryngeal cancer that develops in your voice box.

The types of throat cancers are differentiated on the basis of the part of the throat it starts from.

  • Oropharyngeal cancer: It begins in your oropharynx. This oropharynx is a part of your throat that is situated behind your mouth. It also includes your tonsils.
  • Nasopharyngeal cancer: There is a part of your throat that stays right behind your nose; it is called the nasopharynx. When cancer starts from the nasopharynx, it is called nasopharyngeal cancer.
  • Glottic cancer: It begins in your vocal cords.
  • Hypopharyngeal cancer: It is also called laryngopharyngeal cancer. This type of cancer begins in your hypopharynx that is the lower portion of your throat. Your esophagus and windpipe are situated just under the hypopharynx or laryngopharynx.
  • Subglottic cancer: It occurs in the lower part of your voice box and below your vocal cords.
  • Supraglottic cancer: This type of cancer affects the upper portion of your voice box first. It also attacks your epiglottis. Epiglottis is a part of cartilage, and it blocks food particles from going into the windpipe.

Symptoms:

Dr. Soumen Das, the experienced head and neck oncologist in Kolkata, has provided a complete list of every possible sign and symptom that takes place if you have throat cancer. those are as follows:

  • Unintended weight loss
  • A constant sore in the throat
  • Pain in the ear
  • Facing difficulty while swallowing food
  • A cough that persists
  • Hoarseness or any change in the voice, you may feel difficult to speak clearly
  • A lump or a kind of sore that does not heal

Risk factors:

There are many factors that increase the risk of getting throat cancer. Those may include:

  • Use of tobacco, be it smoking or chewing raw tobacco
  • Alcohol abuse
  • GERD – Gastroesophageal reflux disease
  • Viral infections

You must try to avoid things that increase the risk of throat cancer. If you are a sufferer of throat cancer, visit the best head and neck oncologist in Kolkata and get the best treatment.