Head and neck cancer with 15 times higher risk of smoker, symptoms and prevention?
Mar 23, 2025
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Anatomically, the head and neck refer to the area from the upper part of the clavicle and lung to the cranial base, and the cranial base refers to the head bone that supports the brain as the base of the skull. Head and neck cancer includes oral cancer that occurs in various organs present in this area, i.e., oral cancer in the oral cavity, pharyngeal and laryngeal cancer in the throat, hypopharyngeal cancer at the entrance of the esophagus, sinus cancer around the nose, nasal cancer, and salivary gland cancer under the ear and chin.
Smoking and drinking are considered the biggest risk factors. In particular, smokers have a 12 to 15 times higher risk of head and neck cancer than non-smokers, and when smoking and drinking together, the incidence rate increases sharply compared to those who do not.
Recently, the incidence of head and neck cancer associated with human papillomavirus has been increasing, and it is known that human papillomavirus is closely related to the occurrence of oropharyngeal cancer, a type of head and neck cancer.
The initial symptoms vary as much as the site of occurrence.
In the case of oral cancer, hard lumps or long-lasting pain may occur in the lips, gums, and tongue, and often complains of discomfort when chewing or swallowing food. In particular, the most common tongue cancer among oral cancers is characterized by ulcers on the tongue and severe pain. In addition, if a lump is touched around the ear or under the chin, you can suspect salivary gland cancer. Nasopharyngeal cancer can cause symptoms such as a lump on the neck, stuffy nose, and bleeding.
In the case of laryngeal cancer, a typical symptom is that the husky voice gradually worsens over several weeks to months. If your husky voice lasts for more than two weeks, and you have a feeling of foreign matter in your throat or difficulty swallowing food, you must visit a hospital for an accurate diagnosis.
For diagnosis, a physical examination is performed first. A specialist judges the patient's abnormalities by examination, palpation, examination, auscultation, etc.
In addition, the suspected area is accurately identified by endoscopy through the nose and mouth, and confirmed through imaging, nuclear, fine needle aspiration, and biopsy such as CT, MRI, and PET-CT. In particular, the fine needle aspiration test is a relatively safe test performed by collecting only a small amount of cells from the lesion with a thin needle, and the accuracy of discriminating cancer is more than 90%.
The basic principle of treatment is extensive surgical resection of the tumor. However, in the case of head and neck cancer, unlike other cancers, there are many other areas to look at besides the survival rate. Since the organs of eating, talking, and breathing are gathered, it is of paramount importance to establish a patient-specific treatment plan by comprehensively considering not only the removal of cancer, but also the preservation of functions and the possibility of reconstructive surgery. In addition, depending on the patient's condition, radiation therapy and chemotherapy can be combined before and after surgery to maximize the treatment effect and reduce the recurrence rate.
Kwon Soon-young, a professor of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at Korea University Ansan Hospital, said, `The neck area, which accounts for most of the head and neck, is very narrow and is a passage for important blood vessels and nerves, so a very delicate operation is needed. In addition, doctors' expertise is required to determine the extent of resection, for example, if the area is widely resected when the tongue is cancerous, the recurrence rate will be lowered, but the patient's quality of life drops sharply. Considering the reduction in recurrence rates and the degree of preservation of physical functions, doctors' proficiency in making and implementing optimal surgical plans is bound to affect."
If the cancer progresses above a certain level, significant tissue deficits can occur during surgery and reconstructive surgery is often required.
For example, if the larynx is resected due to laryngeal cancer, an artificial vocal tract should be inserted, and if the pharynx is removed due to laryngeal cancer, reconstructive surgery should be performed in which the skin is incised to form a pharynx and transplanted. Fortunately, most patients can return to their daily lives after reconstructive surgery, and after surgery, rehabilitation treatment is needed to overcome swallowing disorders, vocal disorders, and articulation disorders.
For prevention, smoking and excessive drinking must be avoided, and it is necessary to thoroughly manage oral hygiene. In addition, vaccination against human papillomavirus at the young age of 12-26 for both men and women helps reduce the incidence of oropharyngeal or oral cancer associated with the virus.
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This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
