Throat Cancer Does Not Actually Exist - But You Have To Be Careful.

Actually there is no such medical illness known as ‘throat cancer’, although a number of sorts of cancer can arise in the throat and neck. The proper medical term for the throat is the ‘pharynx’, which can be defined as: 'the passage that ensures that food and drink go to the stomach and air to and from the lungs'.

The pharynx is made up of three components: the oropharynx (the back of the mouth, including the soft palate and base of the tongue); nasopharynx (connecting the back of the nose to the back of the mouth); laryngopharynx (connecting the oropharynx and nasopharynx to the beginning of the gullet (oesophagus) and the windpipe (trachea) via the voice box (larynx)).

The laryngopharynx is occasionally called the hypopharynx. ‘Throat cancer’ can be cancer of any of these, although the most common form of ‘throat cancer’ is nasopharyngeal cancer.

Just to render the term ‘throat cancer’ even more useless and confusing, some people apply it to cancer of the thyroid gland (situated at the front of the base of the neck), cancer of the voice box (larynx), cancer of the gullet or cancer of the windpipe (trachea), which actually comes into the lung cancer group.

Most head and neck cancerous cells are squamous, which means they do not travel far from their origin, although they often affect the lymph nodes. In fact, the first indication of head or throat cancer is frequently an enlarged neck lymph node, which is also sometimes referred to as throat cancer.

Another sign could be the appearance of white patches or spots in the mouth that will not respond to treatment. Called leukoplakia, 33% of them become cancerous. It is estimated that 7,000 Americans die of a throat cancer each year, frequently because it was discovered late. Ethnicity may also play a part, since African American men are 50% more at danger of throat cancer than Caucasian men.

These cancers are quite painless in early stages and can be confused with toothache, earache, sore throat or hoarseness. Once established however, they develop very quickly, although if detected at an early stage, they can nearly always be effectively removed.

There is a brand variety of reasons why someone can be at a greater danger for a throat cancer, including smoking; chewing tobacco and other items, such as betel nut, gutkha, marijuana or pan; heavy alcohol consumption; poor diet resulting in vitamin deficiencies (worse if this is caused by substantial alcohol intake); weakened immune system; asbestos exposure; prolonged exposure to wood dust or paint fumes; exposure to petroleum, industrial chemicals, and being over the age of 55 years.

The incidence of acid reflux disease (gastroesphogeal reflux disease - GERD) or larynx reflux disease can also be a key factor. In the case of acid reflux disease, stomach acids flow up into the oesophagus and harm its lining, making it more liable to throat cancer.

Because successful treatment depends on early detection, routine oral examination is suggested. Your dentist will have been trained to be on the look out for early signs, making a bi-annual visit to the dentist even more rewarding

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on a number of topics, but is now involved with the stages of ovarian cancer. If you want to know more, please visit our site at Signs and Symptoms of Ovarian Cancer