Frequent heartburn may be laryngeal cancer. Treatment of laryngeal cancer usually involves radiotherapy and surgery.

Many people think of heartburn as gastritis, esophagitis and other digestive tract diseases. However, a new study reminds us that frequent heartburn increases the risk of laryngeal cancer by nearly 80%.

Researchers from Brown University in the United States surveyed 631 patients, of whom 468 had laryngeal cancer and 163 had vocal cord cancer. All patients were asked to take detailed questionnaires about their history of symptoms such as heartburn, as well as their smoking and drinking habits. The results showed that among patients who were neither smokers nor alcoholics, those with frequent heartburn symptoms had a 78% increased risk of laryngeal cancer and vocal cord cancer. However, among patients who often had heartburn, taking antacids reduced the risk of laryngeal cancer and vocal cord cancer by 41%.

Dr. Scott Langevin, the leader of the new study, said that heartburn is caused by stomach acid reflux into the esophagus, which is not dangerous in itself. Occasional heartburn causes "burns" to the esophageal cells, which usually heal on their own without special treatment. However, frequent heartburn can cause the formation of a cell protective layer in the esophagus, forming an abnormal columnar epithelial covering at the lower end of the esophagus (also known as "Barrett's esophagus"). This change will produce abnormal cells that can resist stomach acid and are more likely to become cancerous.

We can also take some measures to prevent laryngeal cancer in our daily life.

1. No smoking: Smoking can directly damage organs and cause laryngeal cancer. The longer you smoke, the higher the incidence of laryngeal cancer. Nicotine, coal tar and benzopyrene produced by cigarettes are all carcinogens.

2. Quit drinking: Long-term and heavy drinking will cause congestion and edema in the throat, and lead to malnutrition and low immune function, laying the foundation for the formation of cancer.

3. Change bad eating habits: For those who often like to eat hot pot, spicy food and other irritating foods, if they continue to do so for a long time, it will cause great harm to the throat. Not only is it easy to cause pharyngitis, etc., but it will also worsen and form cancer.

4. Stay away from chemical carcinogens: Chemical carcinogens related to laryngeal cancer include sulfur dioxide, chromium, arsenic, etc. The living and production environment is polluted by air. Inhaling the above harmful gases and dust will damage the throat, so protection must be done.

Once laryngeal cancer is diagnosed, how can it be treated scientifically and effectively?

The most scientific method to treat laryngeal cancer is radiotherapy + surgery. For patients with relatively small tumors, radiotherapy or surgery can be considered for treatment. Radiotherapy is performed 5 times a week, with two days of rest, for about 4 weeks. Surgery can mostly be performed through the mouth to remove tumor tissue.

After total laryngectomy, a full laryngeal tube should be placed. The full laryngeal tube should be cleaned, disinfected and replaced every day. The purpose of placing a full laryngeal tube is to prevent the tracheal opening from shrinking. The full laryngeal tube is generally placed for about half a year. If the tracheal opening is very large, it can also be removed in advance (some patients can remove it 1-2 months after surgery). Before removing the tracheal tube, the doctor's consent must be obtained.

If the tumor is large, including tumors in multiple parts of the larynx, radiotherapy and surgery can also be used. Because the tumor has grown larger, laryngeal cancer must be treated more carefully. Precision radiotherapy is recommended as a method of radiotherapy. At present, precision radiotherapy technology is very mature, and the main equipment is RapidArc, TOMO, Gamma Knife, CyberKnife, etc. Because precision radiotherapy is non-invasive, painless, high-precision, and high-dose, it kills tumor cells with an efficiency of more than 80-90% through radiation, so it is increasingly used in tumor treatment. More importantly, compared with total laryngectomy, precision radiotherapy can preserve the patient's vocal function and greatly improve the patient's quality of life.

Choose surgery, which is called a partial laryngectomy. An incision is made through the neck and a temporary tracheotomy is performed during the operation. The tracheal tube will remain in place for a period of time after the operation.

You can start eating about 7-10 days after partial laryngectomy. Generally, you can start with non-watery foods such as noodles, wontons, and steamed buns. Because the normal structure of the larynx is destroyed by the surgery, the protective function of the larynx is affected to varying degrees. When you start eating, you may sometimes choke, which is normal. After choking adaptation training, the choking will gradually improve. When you don't choke even when drinking water, you can remove the gastric tube and eat completely by mouth.