All You Need to Know About Head and Neck Cancer
Head and neck cancer is a group of cancer. It starts at the
mouth, nose, throat, larynx, sinuses, salivary glands, etc. More than 803% of head
and neck cancers are linked to excessive tobacco use. Around 75% is attributed
to tobacco and alcohol usage.
The head and neck tumors are very curable provided detected
early.
Symptoms: The following symptoms you will get head and neck cancer
are:-
●
Unhealthy Ulcer
●
Chronic Sore Throat
●
Difficulty in Swallowing
●
Leukoplakia (with patches
in mouth)
●
Change of voice
Types of Head and Neck Cancer:
Laryngeal and hypopharyngeal cancer:
The larynx
is also called a voice box. This tube-shaped organ is located at the top of
the windpipe. The organ helps in breathing, talking and swallowing.
Nasal cavity and paranasal sinus cancer:
The nasal the cavity is just behind the nose and air passes through it. The paranasal
sinuses are the air-filled areas that surround the nasal cavity.
Nasopharyngeal cancer:
The nasopharynx is the air passageway at the upper part of the throat behind the nose.
Oral and oropharyngeal cancer:
The oral cavity includes the mouth and tongue. The oropharynx is the middle of the
throat, from the tonsils to the tip of the voice box.
Salivary gland cancer:
The
salivary gland’s main job is to produce saliva. Saliva is released into the
mouth to keep it moist. It contains enzymes that break down food. There is an
acid element in them. Saliva is the main fluid that starts operating when food
is swallowed by the mouth.
Head and Neck Cancer Treatment:
Surgery:
It is a first-line treatment option for Head and neck cancer.
Also, the combination of radiation therapy or chemotherapy will be used.
Chemotherapy:
Chemotherapy treatments for head and neck cancer are used for
patients, where the tumors are spread to other parts of the body. Chemotherapy
kills cancer cells and is used as stand-alone or in combination as
multimodality treatment. It is a painless procedure.
Radiation therapy:
This therapy uses a high dose of radiation towards the tumor
cells. This technology does not damage healthy tissues and organs. But,
only targets the affected parts. Most of the doctors advise this radiation
therapy to patients. Patients may suffer pain but will be relieved as the
therapy is very effective in killing cancer cells.
New treatments
Immunotherapy:
It is associated with minimal side effects and has excellent
outcomes in the correctly chosen(as per indication) patient. These drugs
called checkpoint inhibitors are into disrupting proteins that the cancer cells
use to disguise themselves from the immune system. This drug locates the cancer
cells and disarmed them.
Molecular Targeted
therapy:
These drugs block cancer’s growth activity. They attack the
very means of specific proteins that help the cancer cells grow and expand and
spread to the other parts of the body. It is a very strong drug and contributes
to the cancer treatment by finishing of the cancer cells.
In India, the head and cancer patients
are growing day by day. The government of India and the world have taken a lot
of precautions and always advertise about not indulging in chewing tobacco. The
populace of chewing tobacco is helpless by virtue of their daily jobs. The cab
drivers, rickshaw drivers and people who work in factories, industrial units
are prone to this dangerous habit and are prone to get affected by head and
neck cancer. The rich and famous also indulge in tobacco chewing and alcohol
consumption by virtue of habit and are also prone to this disease.
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