Larynx Cancer

Signs & symptoms

喉癌的症状主要取决于肿瘤的大小和位置.

• Most cancers of the larynx begin on the vocal cords. These tumors are seldom painful, but they almost always cause hoarseness or other changes in the voice.
• 声带上方区域的肿瘤可能导致颈部肿块、喉咙痛或耳痛.
• 发源于声带下方的肿瘤很少见，而且会导致呼吸困难. Your breathing may become noisy.

持续不断的咳嗽或喉咙有肿块的感觉也可能是喉癌的警告信号. 随着肿瘤的生长，它可能会导致疼痛、体重减轻、口臭和食物窒息. In some cases, a tumor in the larynx can make it hard to swallow.

Diagnosis

In addition to checking general signs of health, your doctor will carefully feel your neck to check for lumps, swelling, tenderness or other changes. Your doctor also can look at the larynx in two ways:

• Indirect Laryngoscopy Your doctor looks down your throat with a small, long-handled mirror, or through the nose with a flexible telescope, to check for abnormal areas and to see if the vocal cords move as they should. This test is performed in the doctor's office and is painless, 但局部麻醉剂可以喷在喉咙或鼻子上，以避免不适和防止呕吐.
• Direct Laryngoscopy Your doctor inserts a lighted tube, called a laryngoscope, through your mouth. 当管子进入喉咙时，你的十大赌博平台排行榜可以检查在办公室看不到的地方. 这个过程是在手术室里进行的，使用全身麻醉剂让你“入睡”."

If abnormal areas are found, you will need a biopsy. A biopsy is the only sure way to know if cancer is present. A pathologist examines the tissue under a microscope to check for cancer cells. If cancer is found, the pathologist can determine its type. Almost all cancers of the larynx are squamous cell carcinomas. This cancer begins in the flat, scale-like cells that line parts of the larynx.

Imaging such as computed tomography (CT) scan and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) 是否用于确定肿瘤的范围和颈部淋巴结的状态.

Treatments

喉癌通常用手术或放射疗法治疗，也称为放射疗法. Some patients may receive chemotherapy at the time of radiation therapy.

Radiation Therapy

放射疗法使用高能射线来破坏癌细胞并阻止它们生长. The rays are aimed at the tumor and the surrounding area. 十大赌博平台排行榜可能会建议对某些癌症进行这种治疗，因为它可以摧毁肿瘤，而且你可能不会失去声音.

放射治疗可以与手术结合，以消灭手术后可能留在该区域的微小癌细胞. 放射治疗也可用于不能通过手术切除的肿瘤.

Surgery

对于某些肿瘤，手术可能被推荐为主要治疗方法，从而避免了放疗. 对于一些晚期癌症患者，建议先手术后放疗. 如果肿瘤对放射治疗没有反应或在放射治疗后复发，手术是常用的治疗方法.

When patients need surgery, 手术的类型主要取决于肿瘤的大小和确切位置. If a tumor on the vocal cord is very small, the surgeon may use a laser, a powerful beam of light, to remove the tumor. 切除部分或整个喉部的手术称为部分或全喉切除术.

The surgeon may perform a tracheostomy, creating an opening called a stoma in the front of the neck, which may be temporary or permanent. Air enters and leaves the trachea and lungs through this opening. 气管造口管，有时被称为“气管管”，保持新的气道畅通.

A partial laryngectomy preserves the voice. The surgeon removes only part of the voice box — just one vocal cord, part of a cord or just the epiglottis, cartilage that projects upward behind the tongue. In these cases, the tracheostomy is temporary. After a brief recovery period, the trach tube is removed and the opening closes.

在全喉切除术中，整个喉部被切除，造口或开口是永久性的. The patient breathes through the stoma and must learn to talk in a new way.

If your doctor thinks the cancer may have spread, the lymph nodes in the neck and some of the tissue around them may be removed. These nodes are often the first place the laryngeal cancer spreads.

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy is the use of drugs to kill cancer cells. Your doctor may suggest one drug or a combination of drugs. In some cases, anticancer drugs are given during radiation therapy. 化疗也可用于已经扩散到身体其他部位的癌症.