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Head and neck cancer covers cancers of the **mouth, nose and sinuses,
salivary glands, and throat and voice box (larynx)**. Most are squamous cell
cancers, beginning in the moist tissues lining those areas and spreading into
deeper tissue as they grow.
Brain cancer, eye cancer and oesophageal cancer all occur in the head and
neck, and none of them is called head and neck cancer. The grouping is not
about location: those cancers and their treatments are different, and the
point of the category is that its members behave and are treated alike.
Who is more likely to develop it
| Risk factor | Which cancers |
|---|---|
| Tobacco use, or heavy drinking | Across the group — and doing both raises the risk further still |
| Being male | |
| Being over 50 | |
| A history of head or neck cancer | |
| HPV | Tonsils and base of the tongue |
| Workplace exposure to wood dusts or other toxic substances | Upper throat, nose and sinuses |
| Radiation exposure to the head and neck | Salivary gland |
| Epstein–Barr virus | Upper throat and salivary gland |
| Being Asian | Upper throat |
The first row is the one to act on: tobacco and alcohol are the two largest
factors, and their combination is worse than either alone.
Symptoms
- A lump in the neck
- A sore in the mouth or throat that does not heal, possibly painful
- A sore throat that does not go away
- Trouble swallowing
- A change in the voice, or hoarseness
The common thread is persistence. Others depend on which of the specific
cancers it is.
Diagnosis and treatment
Which exams are used depends on the type. They may include a physical exam of
the area, blood or urine tests, an endoscopy, a biopsy or another procedure to
collect cells for examination under a microscope, and imaging.
Treatment depends on the specific cancer, its stage, your overall health and
other factors: surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, immunotherapy,
and targeted therapy, which attacks specific cancer cells and spares
normal ones better. Combinations are common.
Surgery here can affect chewing, swallowing and speaking — the same
structures that do those jobs are the ones being treated. Rehabilitation
exists for exactly that: physical therapy, dietary counselling and speech
therapy.
Prevention
Not smoking. Limiting alcohol, or not drinking. Regular dental exams —
which is where a non-healing mouth sore is most likely to be spotted by
someone trained to notice. And talking to your provider about HPV
vaccination.
Source: National Cancer Institute, via MedlinePlus.
Licence : CC0 1.0 (domaine public) · Adapté de medlineplus.gov
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