About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Definition
By Mayo Clinic staff
Throat cancer refers to cancerous tumors that develop in your throat (pharynx), voice box (larynx) or tonsils.
Your throat is a 5-inch-long muscular tube that begins behind your nose and ends in your neck. Your voice box sits just below your throat and is also susceptible to throat cancer. The voice box is made of cartilage and contains the vocal cords that vibrate to make sound when you talk. Throat cancer can also affect the piece of cartilage (epiglottis) that acts as a lid for your windpipe. Tonsil cancer, another form of throat cancer, affects the tonsils which are located on the back of the throat.
You can reduce your risk of throat cancer by not smoking, not chewing tobacco and limiting alcohol use.
- Quon H. Cancer of the head and neck. In: Abeloff MD, et al. Abeloff's Clinical Oncology. 4th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Churchill Livingstone; 2007:1177.
- Armstrong WB, et al. Malignant tumors of the larynx. In: Flint PW, et al. Cummings Otolaryngology: Head & Neck Surgery. 5th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Mosby Elsevier; 2010. http://www.mdconsult.com/book/player/book.do?method=display&type=aboutPage&decorator=header&eid=4-u1.0-B978-0-323-05283-2..X0001-8--TOP&isbn=978-0-323-05283-2&uniq=203948673#lpState=open&lpTab=contentsTab&content=4-u1.0-B978-0-323-05283-2..X0001-8--TOP%3Bfrom%3Dcontent%3Bisbn%3D978-0-323-05283-2%3Btype%3DbookHome. Accessed June 16, 2010.
- Uppaluri R, et al. Neoplasms of the hypopharynx and cervical esophagus. In: Flint PW, et al. Cummings Otolaryngology: Head & Neck Surgery. 5th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Mosby Elsevier; 2010. http://www.mdconsult.com/book/player/book.do?method=display&type=aboutPage&decorator=header&eid=4-u1.0-B978-0-323-05283-2..X0001-8--TOP&isbn=978-0-323-05283-2&uniq=203948673#lpState=open&lpTab=contentsTab&content=4-u1.0-B978-0-323-05283-2..X0001-8--TOP%3Bfrom%3Dcontent%3Bisbn%3D978-0-323-05283-2%3Btype%3DbookHome. Accessed June 16, 2010.
- Head and neck cancers. Fort Washington, Pa.: National Comprehensive Cancer Network. http://www.nccn.org/professionals/physician_gls/PDF/head-and-neck.pdf. Accessed June 2, 2010.
- Laryngeal cancer treatment. National Cancer Institute. http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/treatment/laryngeal/patient/allpages. Accessed June 2, 2010.
- Hypopharyngeal cancer treatment. National Cancer Institute. http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/treatment/laryngeal/patient/allpages. Accessed June 2, 2010.
- Oropharyngeal cancer treatment. National Cancer Institute. http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/treatment/oropharyngeal/patient/allpages. Accessed June 2, 2010.
- What you need to know about cancer of the larynx. National Cancer Institute. http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/wyntk/larynx/allpages. Accessed June 2, 2010.
- Erbitux (prescribing information). Branchburg, N.J.: ImClone Systems Incorporated; 2009. http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2009/125084s167lbl.pdf. Accessed June 17, 2010.
- Freedman ND, et al. Fruit and vegetable intake and head and neck cancer risk in a large United States prospective cohort study. International Journal of Cancer. 2008;122:2330.
- Tonsils and adenoids. American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. http://www.entnet.org/HealthInformation/tonsilsAdenoids.cfm. Accessed June 29, 2010.
Find Mayo Clinic on