Laryngeal cancer is cancer of your larynx, or voice box. Laryngeal cancer symptoms include voice changes, such as hoarseness, and a sore throat or cough that won’t go away. Treatment may include surgery to remove part or all of your larynx, called a laryngectomy.
Laryngeal cancer affects your larynx, part of your throat. Your larynx helps you speak, breathe and swallow. It contains your vocal cords. Cancer affecting your larynx or vocal cords happens when cells grow uncontrollably in your larynx. As these cancerous (malignant) cells multiply, they invade tissues and damage your body.
In the UK, there are more than 2,000 new cases of laryngeal cancer each year.
What are the symptoms of laryngeal cancer?
It’s easy to mistake the first signs of laryngeal cancer for other conditions. The most common symptom — hoarseness that doesn’t improve after a few weeks — is easy to mistake as a sign of a cold. If you experience the following symptoms, talk to a healthcare provider for an accurate diagnosis:
- Sore throat or cough that doesn’t improve.
- Voice changes, such as hoarseness, that don’t improve after two weeks.
- Pain or other difficulties when you swallow.
- Lump in your neck or throat.
- Trouble making voice sounds (dysphonia).
- Ear pain.
If you have these symptoms, seek medical attention right away:
- Trouble breathing (dyspnea).
- Breathing that’s noisy and high-pitched (stridor).
- The feeling that something’s in your throat (globus sensation).
- Coughing up blood (hemoptysis).
What causes laryngeal cancer?
Some forms of HPV (human papillomavirus), a sexually transmitted infection (STI), can cause laryngeal cancer.
You also have a much higher chance of developing it if you use tobacco or drink alcohol frequently.
What are the risk factors for laryngeal cancer?
Smoking or using other tobacco products greatly increases your risk of developing laryngeal cancer. Drinking alcohol, especially a lot of it (more than one drink daily) also raises your risk.
And using alcohol and tobacco together increases your risk even more.
Other risk factors of laryngeal cancer include:
- Age: Laryngeal cancer happens more in people age 55 and older.
- Sex: Men and people assigned male at birth are about five times more likely to develop this cancer, possibly because smoking and heavy alcohol consumption happen more among this group.
- History of head and neck cancer: About 1 in 4 (25%) people who have had head and neck cancer will get it again.
- Job: People exposed to certain substances at work are at higher risk. These substances include sulfuric acid mist, wood dust, nickel, asbestos or manufacturing mustard gas. People who work with machines are also at higher risk of developing cancer in their larynx.
What are the risk factors for laryngeal cancer?
Smoking or using other tobacco products greatly increases your risk of developing laryngeal cancer. Drinking alcohol, especially a lot of it (more than one drink daily) also raises your risk.
And using alcohol and tobacco together increases your risk even more.
Other risk factors of laryngeal cancer include:
- Age: Laryngeal cancer happens more in people age 55 and older.
- Sex: Men and people assigned male at birth are about five times more likely to develop this cancer, possibly because smoking and heavy alcohol consumption happen more among this group.
- History of head and neck cancer: About 1 in 4 (25%) people who have had head and neck cancer will get it again.
- Job: People exposed to certain substances at work are at higher risk. These substances include sulfuric acid mist, wood dust, nickel, asbestos or manufacturing mustard gas. People who work with machines are also at higher risk of developing cancer in their larynx.
What is the treatment for laryngeal cancer?
Treatment for laryngeal cancer includes:
Surgery: For early laryngeal cancer, surgery can remove the tumor while preserving your larynx (and your ability to speak and swallow). For advanced cancer, surgeons often need to do a laryngectomy, surgery that removes your entire larynx.
Radiation therapy: Radiation oncologists deliver high-energy radiation beams to kill cancer cells. The radiation targets only the tumor to minimize damage to surrounding healthy tissue.
Chemotherapy: Medical oncologists use medications to kill or slow the growth of cancer cells. People often get chemotherapy intravenously (through a vein). Chemo can cause side effects during treatment that a medical oncologist can help you manage.
Immunotherapy: This treatment uses your immune system, your body’s natural defenses, to help fight cancer. Immunotherapy is also called biologic therapy.
Targeted therapy: This treatment targets cancer cells with specific types of proteins, preventing the cells from multiplying.