Can laryngeal cancer be cured in the mid-term?

Generally speaking, the cure rate of early laryngeal cancer can reach as high as 90%. For radical laryngeal cancer, if local recurrence occurs, total laryngectomy can still achieve a cure rate of 68%. However, for patients who relapse after radical surgery, the curative effect of radiotherapy is very poor, and the cure rate does not exceed 10%. The cure rate of surgery and radiotherapy for stage I laryngeal cancer is over 90%. Surgery to preserve laryngeal function can be performed for stage II and some stage III tumors, and sometimes neck lymph node dissection is also required.

For laryngeal cancer, primary or secondary voice reconstruction surgery can enable some patients to regain language communication ability. After surgery, patients can also regain voice function through esophageal voice, artificial voice machine, etc. Advanced laryngeal cancer should be treated with total laryngectomy, which sometimes must include neck lymph node dissection.

Currently, the treatment of laryngeal cancer includes surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and biological therapy, etc. Sometimes multiple treatment methods are combined to improve the 5-year survival rate of laryngeal cancer, maximize the retention of the patient's laryngeal vocal function, and improve the patient's quality of life.

Next, let’s take a look at how laryngeal cancer is caused.

1. Smoking: Smoking is closely related to respiratory tumors. Most laryngeal cancer patients have a long history of heavy smoking. The incidence of laryngeal cancer is proportional to the daily smoking amount and the total smoking time. In addition, passive smoking cannot be ignored and may also cause cancer. When smoking, tobacco burning can produce tar, in which benzopyrene has a carcinogenic effect, which can cause mucosal edema, congestion, epithelial hyperplasia and squamous metaplasia, stop ciliary movement, and thus cause cancer.

2. Drinking: According to surveys, drinkers have a 1.5 to 4.4 times higher risk of laryngeal cancer than non-drinkers, especially supraglottic laryngeal cancer, which is closely related to drinking. Smoking and drinking have a synergistic effect in causing cancer.

3. Air pollution: Long-term inhalation of industrial dust, sulfur dioxide, chromium, arsenic, etc. may lead to respiratory tumors. The incidence of laryngeal cancer is high in cities with serious air pollution, and the incidence is higher in urban residents than in rural residents.

4. Occupational factors: long-term exposure to toxic chemicals, such as mustard gas, asbestos, nickel, etc.

5. Viral infection: Human papillomavirus (HpV) can cause laryngeal papilloma, which is currently considered to be a precancerous lesion of laryngeal cancer.

6. Sex hormones: The larynx is a secondary sex organ and is considered a target organ for sex hormones. Male patients with laryngeal cancer are significantly more likely to have a higher level of testosterone than female patients. Clinical studies have found that laryngeal cancer patients have higher testosterone levels than normal people, lower estrogen levels, and testosterone levels drop significantly after tumor removal.

Through the above introduction, everyone will have a preliminary understanding of laryngeal cancer. If related symptoms occur, seek medical attention in time.