Could persistent sore throat be laryngeal cancer?

Most cases of sore throat may be caused by pharyngitis, which is often related to bad living habits, such as liking to eat spicy food, smoking, drinking, talking too much, or talking too loudly, and long-term stimulation of gastroesophageal reflux, etc. These will cause persistent sore throat and require symptomatic treatment to reduce swelling and relieve pain according to the condition. A very painful throat is not necessarily a clinical manifestation of laryngeal cancer. Clinically, there are many reasons for sore throat: local infectious lesions of the throat caused by bacteria and other pathogens can cause sore throat, and some patients have symptoms such as difficulty swallowing and fever. Pain on the left side of the throat may be laryngeal cancer, but it is not necessarily.

Differences in manifestations between chronic pharyngitis and laryngeal cancer

Early diagnosis and timely treatment of laryngeal cancer are the key to improving the survival rate. Anyone over 40 years old who has hoarseness or throat discomfort and smokes or drinks alcohol must pay close attention. Sometimes multiple examinations are even required to avoid missed diagnosis. Patients with chronic pharyngitis may have congestion and swelling of the pharyngeal mucosa, but there will be no abnormal neoplasia in the pharynx. Laryngeal cancer is a malignant tumor of the larynx that can manifest as hoarseness, cough, pain, throat discomfort, foreign body sensation, bloody sputum or hemoptysis, choking when eating, difficulty breathing, difficulty swallowing, neck mass, etc.

How to tell the difference between laryngeal cancer and pharyngitis

Pharyngitis is a type of inflammation, and laryngeal cancer is a tumor. With this said, I think many people will be able to distinguish clearly between pharyngitis and laryngeal cancer, and there is a clear difference between the two. Therefore, I hope that patients with throat diseases must understand their diseases clearly when diagnosing the disease, otherwise it will not help with the treatment. The early symptoms of laryngeal cancer are easily confused with pharyngitis. The early symptoms of non-glottic laryngeal cancer are atypical, and often manifest as a foreign body sensation in the throat, sore throat, discomfort in swallowing, and hoarseness, etc., which have many similarities with pharyngitis, so they are often mistaken for "getting angry" or pharyngitis attacks. The difference between laryngeal cancer and pharyngitis in terms of symptoms is not obvious. Relatively speaking, pharyngitis will not develop progressively, and will not worsen over time, but laryngeal cancer will worsen over time.