Laryngeal cancer surgery
|
Laryngeal cancer Microchapters |
|
Diagnosis |
|---|
|
Treatment |
|
Case Studies |
|
Laryngeal cancer surgery On the Web |
|
American Roentgen Ray Society Images of Laryngeal cancer surgery |
|
Risk calculators and risk factors for Laryngeal cancer surgery |
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
Overview
Surgery
The goal of treatment is to completely remove the cancer and prevent it from spreading to other parts of the body.
When the tumor is small, either surgery or radiation therapy alone can be used to remove the tumor.
Some patients need surgery to remove the tumor, including all or part of the vocal cords (laryngectomy). If you have a laryngectomy, speech therapy can help you learn other ways to talk.
Many patients also need swallowing therapy after treatment to help them adjust to the changes in the structure of the throat.Surgery (removing the cancer in an operation) is a common treatment for all stages of laryngeal cancer. The following surgical procedures may be used:
- Cordectomy:
- Surgery to remove the vocal cords only.
- Supraglottic laryngectomy:
- Surgery to remove the supraglottis only.
- Hemilaryngectomy:
- Surgery to remove half of the larynx (voice box). A hemilaryngectomy saves the voice.
- Partial laryngectomy:
- Surgery to remove part of the larynx (voice box). A partial laryngectomy helps keep the patient's ability to talk.
Total laryngectomy: Surgery to remove the whole larynx. During this operation, a hole is made in the front of the neck to allow the patient to breathe. This is called atracheostomy.
- Thyroidectomy:
- The removal of all or part of the thyroid gland.
- Laser surgery:
- A surgical procedure that uses a laser beam (a narrow beam of intense light) as a knife to make bloodless cuts in tissue or to remove a surface lesion such as a tumor.
Even if the doctor removes all the cancer that can be seen at the time of the surgery, some patients may be given chemotherapy or radiation therapy after surgery to kill any cancer cells that are left. Treatment given after the surgery, to lower the risk that the cancer will come back, is called adjuvant therapy.