Causes and pathology of laryngeal cancer

The cause and pathology of laryngeal cancer are still difficult to determine. It is currently believed that the incidence of laryngeal cancer is closely related to smoking and drinking. Among patients over 65 years old, smokers have a 9-fold higher risk of laryngeal cancer than non-smokers. When smoking and drinking coexist, additive or overlapping carcinogenic effects will occur. In addition, exposure to harmful dust, poor oral hygiene, deficiency of certain vitamins and trace elements, genetic factors, Epstein-Barr virus infection, etc. are all related to the incidence of laryngeal cancer.

The vast majority of laryngeal malignant tumors are squamous cell carcinomas. The occurrence of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma generally develops gradually from atypical hyperplasia of the epithelium to carcinoma in situ to invasive carcinoma. According to the morphology of the tumor, it is generally divided into: ulcerative type, nodular type, cauliflower type, and mass type. Glottic squamous cell carcinomas are mostly well differentiated, showing high to moderate differentiation, while those located in other parts, especially the subglottic type, are moderate to poorly differentiated. Generally speaking, the smaller the tumor, the better the differentiation. Some tumors are shallowly infiltrated and are only located under the basement membrane, which is called superficial infiltration or microinfiltration. Occasionally, the tumor is diffuse, but still has superficial characteristics.

Some other malignant tumors, such as small cell carcinoma, carcinoid, adenoid cystic carcinoma, lymphoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, angiosarcoma, liposarcoma, etc. can also be seen in the larynx, but they are rare.