The Philippine Society of Otolaryngology (PSO), a group of doctors specializing in head and neck surgery, recently revealed that 90 percent of head and neck cancers occur after exposure to carcinogens or cancer-causing substances.
Otolaryngology is the specialization in the diseases of the head and neck, especially those related to the ear, nose, and throat (ENT).
Otolaryngologists said exposure to carcinogens causes a type of disease called squamous cell carcinoma (SCCA).
Consequently, more than 95 percent of cases of laryngeal SCCA or cancer of the voice box are smokers.
Smokers have a 35 percent increased risk of developing cancer of the voice box, compared to non-smokers or passive smokers.
Tobacco, medical experts said, causes mutations in genes, allowing the respiratory tract to be blocked by carcinogens and decreasing the body’s immune response.
Tobacco use is measured in pack years, where one pack per day for one year is considered one pack year and two packs per day for one year are equal to two pack years.
Research indicates that the duration of tobacco exposure probably has a more detrimental effect than the intensity of the exposure.
Furthermore, health experts said that alcohol aggravates the risk for developing cancer of the voice box among smokers. Studies also show that alcohol worsens the adverse effects of tobacco. Filipino experts in ENT said "people who smoke and drink alcohol have a combined risk greater than the sum of the individual risks."
This and other types of cancers involving the head and neck were discussed in the recent annual convention of ENT experts.
They said smokers should watch out for the following symptoms of laryngeal cancer: progressive or persistent hoarseness of the voice, difficulty in swallowing, and persistent sore throat or pain in swallowing.
Cancer of the voice box is also shown through difficulty in breathing, pain in the ear, and a lump in the neck.
Primary treatment of the disease includes a number of options, such as surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, or a combination of those treatments.
