Early warning signs of throat cancer

This is an automatically translated article.

Nasopharyngeal cancer is a malignant disease, often detected at a late stage because the disease progresses silently, symptoms of the disease are easily confused with other diseases. Detecting early signs of throat cancer makes treatment more convenient.

1. What is nasopharyngeal cancer?

Nasopharyngeal cancer is a malignant disease that arises from cells in the nasopharynx - the uppermost part of the pharynx, just behind the nose. This is the most common type of cancer in the head, face and neck area and the 4th most common cancer in general.
Prognosis depends mainly on the stage of the disease when it is detected, if detected and treated at an early stage, the survival rate over 5 years after treatment can be up to 70%, many cases completely cured. . With advanced stage cancer, the rate of recurrence and metastasis after treatment is very high, the 5-year survival rate is low from 10% to 40%. Prognosis also depends on the type of cancer, undifferentiated carcinoma has the best prognosis because it is very sensitive to radiation, and connective tissue cancer has the worst prognosis.

2. Signs of throat cancer

The signs of nasopharyngeal cancer in the early stages are often difficult to identify because many symptoms are associated with common ENT diseases, so patients are easy to be subjective and ignore.
2.1 Symptoms of nasopharyngeal cancer in the early stages Headache: Often a dull migraine, sometimes a sharp pain, easily confused with neurological and cerebrovascular diseases. Tinnitus: When invasive nasopharyngeal cancer causes eustachian tube blockage, patients often have tinnitus on one side, which feels like a ticking sound inside the ear.

Stuffy nose: This sign appears gradually, at first the patient will have stuffy nose, stuffy nose one at a time and accompanied by bloody nosebleeds and nosebleeds. Swollen cervical lymph nodes: The most common is the angled lymph nodes of the jaw, the prominent feature is the small, firm, painless lymph nodes that are often discovered incidentally. Voice changes: If a tumor grows around the vocal cords, it can lead to voice changes. Pain and difficulty swallowing: Pain and discomfort when swallowing, whether swallowing water or food, this is caused by the presence of a tumor in the nasopharynx area that makes swallowing difficult. than. Food stuck in the throat can cause the patient to choke. Besides, accompanying this nasopharyngeal cancer symptom is bleeding when the tumor grows. 2.2 Symptoms of late stage nasopharyngeal cancer At this stage, the tumor gradually increases in size and invades, so the patient will have signs such as: severe headache, increasing tinnitus, hearing loss, decreased appetite force, possibly deaf; persistent stuffy nose, with nosebleeds, unresponsive to conventional treatment.

3. Screening for nasopharyngeal cancer at Vinmec International General Hospital

Currently, Vinmec International General Hospital is implementing a package of screening and early detection of oropharyngeal, hypopharyngeal, and laryngeal cancers, including: Full range of necessary services for early detection of nasopharyngeal cancer, help detect other abnormalities in the arch - hypopharynx - larynx area.

Packages for screening, and early detection of oropharyngeal, hypopharyngeal, and laryngeal cancers for customers:
Male/Female, over 30 years old Customers in need should have periodic check-ups to screen for nasopharyngeal cancer. . Customers at risk for oropharyngeal cancer such as: a family history of oropharyngeal cancer. Customers smoke and drink a lot. Customers with frequent abnormal symptoms: nosebleeds, headaches, ringing in the ears, stuffy nose, swollen lymph nodes in the neck... Vinmec International General Hospital has become a prestigious address in Vietnam. screening for nasopharyngeal, hypopharyngeal, laryngeal cancer with:
Team of experienced specialists. Comprehensive professional cooperation with domestic and international hospitals: Singapore, Japan, USA, .. Comprehensive treatment and care, multi-specialty coordination towards individualizing each patient. There is a full range of specialized facilities to diagnose the disease and stage it before treatment: Endoscopy, CT scan, PET-CT scan, MRI, histopathological diagnosis, gene-cell testing, .. There is a full range of main cancer treatment methods: surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, stem cell transplant... In addition, you can refer to the package of screening and early detection of cancer. nasopharyngeal mail as well as other service packages of Vinmec International General Hospital on the website.

Please dial HOTLINE for more information or register for an appointment HERE. Download MyVinmec app to make appointments faster and to manage your bookings easily.