Symptoms of Throat Cancer. What Do I Look For?

Throat cancer is a cancer involving the throat, voice box or tonsils. The tonsils are located on each side of the back of the mouth. The throat begins at the back of the mouth and extends down to the lower part of the neck. The voice box is just under the Adams apple in the mid neck. Throat cancer may involve more than one of these areas. The lymph nodes of the neck are located throughout the neck.

Excessive alcohol use, chewing or smoking tobacco, reflux and certain viruses increase the risk of developing cancer of the throat.

The symptoms of throat cancer vary, depending on the area involved with the cancer. They may include any of the following:

1. A lump in the neck that may represent spread of cancer from the throat to the neck nodes and is a common finding
2. Pain in the back of the mouth or lower in the throat
3. Pain or difficulty when swallowing
4. Voice change, especially hoarseness
5. Pain that starts in the neck or throat and goes to the ear
6. Coughing especially if blood is coughed up
7. Undesired weight loss
8. Sores in the back of the mouth that don’t heal in 1-2 weeks

The treatment of cancer of the throat depends on the location of the cancer as well as which area(s) are involved. Spread to lymph nodes or other parts of the body may also factor into treatment choices. There are three main means of treating throat cancer: surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy. These three may be used in various combinations in the treatment.

Most importantly, the earlier the cancer is diagnosed, the higher the cure rate. When found early, curing throat cancer is much more likely and requires much less treatment. If you have any or a combination of the above symptoms, please see your ear, nose and throat doctor for diagnosis and treatment.

Advanced Ear, Nose and Throat Care’s board-certified ENT doctors treat a variety of issues of the ear, head, neck, eyes, nose and throat, including silent reflux, ear infections, tonsil and adenoids, sleep disturbance, thyroid nodules and palate surgery as well as nasal polyps, and deviated septum and sleep apnea.  We are located in Fairfield County, CT in the towns of Danbury, New Milford, Norwalk, Ridgefield and Southbury.

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