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What Is The Treatment For Throat Cancer?
Question: Hi, I want to know best treatment for throat cancer for 75 year old lady. Is some treatment by medicines possible. Other options are radiation, chemotherapy, surgery. Or are there any other options available ?
Hello and thank you for submitting your question.
Your question is a very good one and I will try to provide you with good information and recommendations regarding this concern.
Throat cancer can be a very challenging malignancy to treat. The treatment really depends on the extent of the disease at the time of diagnosis. Generally we use a combination of surgery as well as chemotherapy and radiation in order to provide the most benefit and the highest chance of cure.
As a general rule anybody who has a diagnosis of a throat cancer should be referred to a ear nose and throat specialist for a surgical consultation. If surgery is decided to be appropriate then a procedure would include removal of the tissue which is affected by the cancer as well as removal of lymph nodes in the area of the neck where the cancer is located. This will help to provide accurate staging at the time of treatment.
After surgery in a few weeks a consultation with a medical oncologist as well as a radiation oncologist should be performed. Both of these medical specialists can provide accurate recommendations for appropriate treatment. Generally chemotherapy is used in combination with radiation in order to provide a synergistic response against the cancer.
I have to say that the treatment for this cancer is quite difficult to tolerate but patients do move through it quite well with adequate support from friends families and medical providers.
There are some new medications which have been discovered which can provide some benefits but at this time the gold standard would be surgery with chemotherapy and radiation. Perhaps at some point in the near future some of the newer drugs which have been discovered may be used in place of chemotherapy but at this time we know that chemotherapy and radiation provides the best chance of cure .
As long as the patient is relatively healthy with not many significant other medical problems. This is a type of surgery with oncology and radiation oncology treatment which can be tolerated. Patients can sometimes do very very well.
I thank you again for submitting your question. I hope you found my response to be both helpful and informative. If you have any additional concerns I would be happy to address them.
Sincerely,
Dr. Robert.
Your question is a very good one and I will try to provide you with good information and recommendations regarding this concern.
Throat cancer can be a very challenging malignancy to treat. The treatment really depends on the extent of the disease at the time of diagnosis. Generally we use a combination of surgery as well as chemotherapy and radiation in order to provide the most benefit and the highest chance of cure.
As a general rule anybody who has a diagnosis of a throat cancer should be referred to a ear nose and throat specialist for a surgical consultation. If surgery is decided to be appropriate then a procedure would include removal of the tissue which is affected by the cancer as well as removal of lymph nodes in the area of the neck where the cancer is located. This will help to provide accurate staging at the time of treatment.
After surgery in a few weeks a consultation with a medical oncologist as well as a radiation oncologist should be performed. Both of these medical specialists can provide accurate recommendations for appropriate treatment. Generally chemotherapy is used in combination with radiation in order to provide a synergistic response against the cancer.
I have to say that the treatment for this cancer is quite difficult to tolerate but patients do move through it quite well with adequate support from friends families and medical providers.
There are some new medications which have been discovered which can provide some benefits but at this time the gold standard would be surgery with chemotherapy and radiation. Perhaps at some point in the near future some of the newer drugs which have been discovered may be used in place of chemotherapy but at this time we know that chemotherapy and radiation provides the best chance of cure .
As long as the patient is relatively healthy with not many significant other medical problems. This is a type of surgery with oncology and radiation oncology treatment which can be tolerated. Patients can sometimes do very very well.
I thank you again for submitting your question. I hope you found my response to be both helpful and informative. If you have any additional concerns I would be happy to address them.
Sincerely,
Dr. Robert.
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Raju A.T
Answered by
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