Symptoms and life expectancy

The term “laryngeal cancer” actually combines various types of cancers of the bronchial tubes and upper gastrointestinal tract called VADS (larynx, pharynx, and oral cavity), which are generally called “ear, nose, and throat cancer.”

Laryngeal cancer: causes and risk factors

The major risk factors for these cancers are now known and are largely preventable.

Smoking is aggressive to the entire body and today is implicated in the development of 16 different types of cancer. However, the organs that come into direct contact with smoke are particularly affected (throat, mouth, lungs, etc.).

In fact, by coming into contact with the tissues that make up the various throat organs, the chemicals in tobacco smoke cause lesions and inflammation, which requires frequent cell renewal to repair the tissue.

When smoking is combined with alcohol consumption, the risk of cancer increases.

HPV, a pathogen particularly responsible for cervical cancer, also appears to be involved in the development of some types of throat cancers.

Prevention by helping to quit smoking, reducing alcohol intake, and vaccination against HPV are effective ways to avoid throat cancer.

Symptoms of throat cancer

Symptoms of throat cancer can vary depending on the location of the cancerous lesion and its stage of development.

The first symptoms may be:

• Change in voice tone, weakness or hoarseness, cough, abnormally noisy breathing (damage to the larynx/vocal cords).
• Sore throat, feeling of something being in the throat, difficulty swallowing (lesion of the pharynx, the back of the mouth).
• Pain when swallowing (lesion in the mouth or behind the mouth)
• Or a visible mass in the neck

However, these symptoms can also be consistent with many other diseases, and are not necessarily cancerous. If in doubt, it is necessary to consult quickly to benefit from early diagnosis.

See also our article on tongue cancer

Diagnosis of laryngeal cancer

Diagnosing laryngeal cancer requires various tests during the procedure that may seem long and cause anxiety, but are still essential for effective treatment.

The procedure includes:

• Clinical examination: questioning, palpation of the neck, examination of the mouth
• Fiberendoscopy (nasal fiberendoscopy): An examination aimed at inserting a flexible camera through the mouth to monitor the mouth, throat, and vocal cords.
• Panendoscopy: consists of inserting a rigid endoscope to view further, especially the esophagus or trachea.
• CT or MRI allows you to see the lesion but also to look for associated damage such as lymphadenopathy or distant lesions.
• A PET scanner (which can detect lesions that are barely visible on a traditional scanner) can also complete an extension evaluation before any treatment.

Once the lesion is located, a biopsy is performed, that is, a sample of the lesion. This sample is analyzed in the anatomic pathology laboratory, and this is what confirms the diagnosis of cancer with histological evidence. Therefore, it is essential before any treatment.

Throat cancer treatments

Throat cancer is a multifaceted disease, and each patient benefits from a personalized treatment protocol based on his personal profile and wishes, as well as the characteristics of his tumor, which are systematically discussed in a multidisciplinary consultative meeting (he said Cardiopulmonary resuscitation), which brings together different specialists who are able to suggest the most appropriate treatment protocol on a case-by-case basis.

Different treatments to treat laryngeal cancer

Depending on the location and extent of the disease, the optimal therapeutic protocol varies and it is common for us to suggest an alliance between different local and systemic treatments.

• Oncology surgery:

It is the mainstay of local tumor management. The standard procedure is laser microsurgery, which is less abrasive than traditional surgery.

It has a vital place in the treatment of many throat cancers. Can be implemented:

• Either adjuvantly, i.e. after surgery, alone or in combination with chemotherapy. In this case, it becomes possible to complete oncological surgery to eliminate the last microscopic cancer cells that were not removed during the intervention.
• Either exclusively, alone or in combination with chemotherapy, when surgery has no place in the treatment (for example, in cases of locally advanced oropharyngeal cancers, in hypopharyngeal cancers, or in caval cancers).
• Or, in certain cases of cancer of the larynx (vocal cords), it may be performed to avoid a worn-out surgical procedure, such as a total laryngectomy, as a primary concern, then called a neoadjuvant, with the aim of preserving the organ.

There are different radiotherapy techniques that can be performed in the treatment of ear, nose and throat cancer:

• Conformal external beam radiotherapy with intensity modulation is the most commonly used. This consists of irradiating the tumor through the patient’s skin, without any surgical intervention. It is a painless and non-abrasive process.
• Stereotactic radiotherapy, for its part, is one of the latest innovations in oncology. This very precise technique makes it possible to increase the doses administered to increase effectiveness, while limiting damage to healthy tissue. It rarely has its place as first-line treatment because the quantities that will be treated to eliminate the cancer are often very large.
• Chemotherapy and immunotherapy

It is usually indicated for the treatment of advanced cancer, or in addition to surgery and/or radiotherapy for aggressive tumors.

Finally, promising new treatments, such as targeted therapies and immunotherapy, may also be offered to some patients on a case-by-case basis.

These treatments are called systemic treatments, which means they pass throughout the body and can have general effects;

Concomitant chemoradiotherapy may be indicated:

• Or after surgery, in order to complete the treatment, and it is then called adjuvant treatment.
• Or immediately, when a surgical procedure is not possible.

Chemotherapy alone may also be indicated as first-line treatment, before chemoradiotherapy, in order to reduce the size of the tumor and lymph nodes.

When head and neck cancer presents with more advanced, or even distant, disease, known as metastases, chemotherapy is the standard treatment. This can be combined with immunotherapy

Laryngeal cancer: life expectancy

There is no single laryngeal cancer, but rather multiple cancers with different stages and grades, which can present a set of characteristics that determine the disease’s response to treatments.

General life expectancy statistics, which are determined according to the 5-year survival rate of patients with laryngeal cancer, are only a reflection of population trends and do not take into account all patient-specific prognostic factors.

In addition, it is necessary to clearly distinguish between cancers associated with alcohol and tobacco intoxication and cancers associated with HPV, which respond very well to chemoradiotherapy and thus have a better prognosis.