In vertebrate organism, the throat is the anterior part of the neck, in front of the vertebral column. It comprises of the pharynx and larynx. Epiglottis, a flap which separates the oesophagus from the trachea, is an important feature of the throat. Epiglottis prevents inhalation of food or drink. The throat contains various blood vessels, pharyngeal muscles, the trachea or windpipe and the oesophagus. The hyoid bone and the clavicle are the only bones sat in the throat of mammals. It is sometimes considered a synonym for fauces.
(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research (MFMER), 2011)
(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research (MFMER), 2011)
The throat (pharynx) is a muscular tube that runs from the back of nose down into neck. It contains three sections including the nasopharynx, oropharynx and laryngopharynx, which is also called the hypopharnyx.
Throat includes esophagus, windpipe (trachea), voice box (larynx), tonsils and epiglottis.
(Health32, 2009)
Most throat cancers are squamous cell carcinomas that start in the throat’s lining tissues. They refer to cancerous tumors that develop in throat (pharynx), voice box (larynx) or tonsils. Throat is a 5-inch-long muscular tube that begins behind the nose and ends in the neck. The voice box locates just below the throat and is also susceptible to throat cancer. The voice box is made or cartilage and contains the voice cords that vibrate to make sound when talking. Throat cancers can also affect the piece of cartilage or epiglottis that acts as a lid for windpipe. Tonsil cancer, another form of throat cancer, affects the tonsils which sit on the back of the throat.
Signs and symptoms of throat cancer include a lump in the throat that does not go away, a sore that will not heal, a persistent sore throat, earache, altered hearing, or difficulty talking or breathing. When caught early, throat cancer has a high cure rate without treatment, typically surgery or radiation therapy. As throat cancers grow, they can interfere with breathing. Therefore, it is important to catch throat cancer as soon as possible so that the possibilities of curing it are increased.
Types of Throat Cancer
Throat cancer is a general term that applies to cancer that develops in the throat or in the voice box. The throat and voice box are closely connected, with the voice box just located below the throat. More specific terms to illustrate the types of throat cancer include:
Nasopharyngeal cancer
(Bechara Y. Ghorayeb, MD, 2011)
Obviously this cancer is a disease in which cancer cells form in the tissues of the nasopharynx. The nasopharynx is the upper part of the pharynx behind the nose. The pharynx is a hollow tube about 5 inches long that starts behind the nose and ends at the top of the trachea and oesophagus, which is the tube that goes from the throat to the stomach. Air and food pass through the pharynx on the way to the trachea or oesophagus. The nostrils lead into the nasopharynx whereas an opening on each side of the nasopharynx leads into an ear. Nasopharyngeal cancer usually starts in the squamous cells that line the nasopharynx. Basically, nasopharyngeal cancer is a type of head and neck cancer.
Nasopharyngeal cancer will normally be found in people Mongoloid race, namely the southern Chinese population, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. The white race is rarely encountered this type of cancer. Moreover, nasopharyngeal cancers can also a variety of cancer that can be genetically inherited.
Nasopharyngeal cancer can be complex to diagnose quickly because they definitely do not have typical symptoms. Lots of patients are unaware of suffering with nasopharyngeal cancer. The symptoms may not be typical with this cancer often make the wrong diagnosis.
(drrahmatorlummc, 4 Sep 2010)
Oropharyngeal cancer
(Bechara Y. Ghorayeb, MD, 2011)
The prognosis for people with oropharyngeal cancer depends on the age and health of the person and the stage of the disease. It is important for people with oropharyngeal cancer to have follow-up exams for the rest of their lives as cancer can occur in nearby areas. In addition, it is important to eliminate risk factors such as smoking and drinking, which increase the risk for this cancer.
Hypopharyngeal cancer
(Bechara Y. Ghorayeb, MD, 2011)
The hypopharynx is the bottom part of the throat, which is a hollow tube that is about 5 inches long. The pharynx starts behind the nose, goes down the neck and ends at the oesophagus. The hypopharynx is a combination of three anatomical subsites which are the piriform sinus, posterior hypopharyngeal wall and posterior cricoid. Hypopharyngeal cancer is also known as laryngopharyngeal cancer which is a disease that occurs when cancerous cells develop in the tissues of the hypopharynx.The peak incidence of hypopharyngeal cancer occurs in males and females aged 50 to 60 years. Excessive alcohol and tobacco use are the main risk factors for this cancer. Upper hypopharyngeal cancers appear to be associated more with heavy drinking and smoking, whereas the lower hypopharyngeal cancers are more often associated with nutritional deficiencies.
Glottis cancer
(Massachusetts General Hospital, 2011)
The glottis is defined as the combination of the vocal cords and the space in between the folds. Glottis cancer begins in the vocal cords. Squamous cell carcinoma head and neck is the most frequent malignant tumour of the glottis larynx. There is a strong association with cigarette smoking and the presenting symptom is normally hoarseness. Criteria used for tumour involvement are abnormal contrast enhancement, soft tissue thickening, presence of a bulky mass and infiltration of the fat in the paraglottic space. Any tissue thickening between the airway and the cricoid ring is considered to present subglottic tumour extension.Level of True Vocal Cords | Level of Subglottis |
 |  |
The left true vocal appears thickened and slightly enhancing. The tumour reaches the anterior commissure (arrow). The left paraglottic space is infiltrated (compare to normal opposite side). Marked sclerosis of the left arytenoid. There appears to be some sclerosis of the left thyroid lamina. | Enhancing soft tissue thickening on the left side. Note slight sclerosis of the cricoid arch on the left. Slight enhancement is seen anteromedially to the subglottis, corresponding to subtle extralaryngeal tumour spread or peritumoral inflammation. The patient was treated surgically. Pathological examination confirmed glottis squamous cell carcinoma extending into the subglottic region without evidence of extralaryngeal tumour extension. The arytenoid showed focal neoplastic invasion; in the other cartilages only inflammatory changes were noted. |
(avasiliadis, 11 Mar 2008)
Supraglottic cancer
(GUT, 2004)
It begins in the upper portion of the larynx and includes cancer that affects the epiglottis, which is a piece of cartilage that blocks food from going into the windpipe. Supraglottic cancer is less common than glottis cancer. There is a strong association with cigarette smoking. The symptoms are dysphagia, pain and hoarseness. Essentially, the radiological signs are similar to those in glottis cancer, but supraglottic cancers often show a large tumour volume at first presentation. Large supraglottic cancers may spread to glottis larynx and are then called transglottic cancers. Lymphadenopathy head and neck is present in supraglottic cancer.(gknarayana, 20 Sep 2008)
Subglottic cancer
(Guedea F, Parsons JT, Mendenhall WM, Million RR, Stringer SP, Cassisi NJ, 1991)
The subglottic region begins about 1 centimeter below the true vocal cords and extends to the lower border of the cricoid cartilage or the first tracheal ring. Basically, subglottic carcinoma accounts for less than 5 percent of all laryngeal cancers. Subglottic cancers tend to invade adjacent structures early in the course of their disease and are often quite extensive by the time symptoms appear. The presenting symptoms include hoarseness from laryngeal invasion and stridor from airway obstruction. Subglottic cancer has usually invaded the true vocal cords, and it may be difficult to differentiate between a cancer originating the glottis or subglottis. Basically, subglottic cancer is commonly bilateral or even circumferential at presentation. (avasiliadis, 11 Mar 2008)
