1. Develop a Treatment Plan With Your Doctor
The first step to treating throat cancer is to get a proper diagnosis, because there are many different types of head and neck cancers. The stage at which your tumor was found--early or late in its growth--plays a role in your treatment, as does the type and location of your cancer. After a diagnosis is made, your doctor will discuss your options with you. How your throat cancer is treated also depends on how much your cancer has spread locally and through other parts of your body. Ultimately, your treatment choice is your own.
2. Treat With Radiation
With radiation therapy, high-energy cells are aimed at the cancer cells to kill them. It is most often used in stage I and II cancers, which have just begun to grow, without any additional surgery. The radiation is usually enough to shrink the tumor or kill it completely. One other use for radiation is to shrink a large tumor to make it small enough to be removed surgically. Normally, radiation is done as an outpatient procedure several times per week.
Another type of radiation therapy is internal. This is where radioactive "seeds" are placed inside or near your tumor to emit the radiation that targets your cancer cells.
3. Treatment With Surgery
Removing a throat cancer tumor with surgery is often the best option with stage III and IV, or advanced, cancers. Some surrounding tissues may also be removed, including lymph nodes and blood vessels. The area around a tumor is called a "margin," and if there is enough cancer-free tissue around the tumor, it will be removed, too. This is to ensure there is no cancer left, even microscopic cells. After surgery, you may also receive radiation therapy to kill off any remaining cancer cells and prevent them from coming back.
4. Chemotherapy as an Option
Chemotherapy, or the use of strong drugs to kill cancer, is not used for throat cancer as much as it is with other types of cancer. It may kill a throat tumor, but the cancer usually comes back. It's best used in combination with surgery and radiation therapies for large cancers. Chemotherapy also has a lot of uncomfortable side effects such as nausea and vomiting, mouth sores and hair loss, making it a poor choice for cancer patients with tumors in already-uncomfortable locations. For example, doctors don't want somebody who has trouble swallowing to have to deal with constant vomiting.
5. Reconstructive Surgery
Some patients with head and neck cancers need to have plastic or reconstructive surgery after cancer treatment. Surgery to treat the cancer can alter bodily structures such as your larynx or esophagus. Other neck cancers and treatments can affect muscles and surrounding tissues. Reconstructive surgery can repair damaged vocal cords or make a post-cancer esophagus work well enough so a patient can eat without a feeding tube. You may need to consult a plastic or reconstructive surgeon once your cancer treatment is finished so your throat can be functional again.
