हिंदी
Tonsils are two oval-shaped pads at the back of your mouth that produce tonsils. Tonsil cancer develops when these cells grow abnormally. The American Carcinoma Society estimates that 1 in 60 men and 1 in 40 women may get tonsil cancer in their lifetime. Head and neck cancers typically start in the cells that line the mucosal surfaces of the head and neck, including the salivary glands, para nasal sinuses, tonsils, tongue, voice box, mouth, throat, nasal cavity, muscles, and nerves. Among other symptoms, a person with tonsil cancer could have trouble swallowing, neck pain and swelling, jaw stiffness, and ear pain.
What do tonsils do?
The soft palate, the base of the tongue, and the tonsils are all located in the oropharynx, which is the middle portion of the throat. Any malignant cell that invades or is formed in the tonsil changes its size and structure, which leads to difficulties swallowing, neck swelling, ear ache, and, if the size increases too much, difficulty breathing.
Tonsil cancer signs and symptoms
• Change in speech texture (potato voice); • Difficulty swallowing; • Ache during deglutition; • Constant ear pain; • Loss of appetite; • Fatigue; • Expansion of the cervical lymph nodes
Throat cancer causes
The body’s cells are designed to reproduce and die at specific times through a process called apoptosis; whenever there are changes that throw this balance off, either the cells reproduce erratically or they fail to die, or if there is a flaw in the repair system that is meant to kill the faulty cell, cancer results.
Tonsil cancer causes
The following are the causes of the DNA alterations in the cells lining the throat:
The two most prevalent and complicated risk factors for all head and neck cancers, including tonsil cancer, are alcohol and cigarettes. Smoking and alcohol together increase the risk of cancer. Tobacco is illegal in all forms, I always remind my patients and other groups of people.
• Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection increases the risk of oropharyngeal cancer.
• Submucosal fibrosis: Patients with this condition complain of a loss of the reddishness or reddish hue of the oral mucosa, which is typically replaced by a whitish patch that lacks luster and also results in a smaller mouth opening.
• Radiation exposure: A risk factor is a history of head and neck radiation treatment in the past for any ailment or cancer.
Infection with the Epstein-Barr virus.
• Genetic conditions that are underlying, such as Fanconi anemia, etc.
carcinoma of the tonsils is treated
• Radiation therapy: One of the mainstays of treatment for patients with tonsil cancer involves using high doses of ionizing radiation to precisely target the tumor volume and drain lymph nodes using imaging techniques like CT scans, PET scans, etc. to minimize the dose spill to nearby critical structures.
Chemotherapy is the second major component of treatment for people with tonsil cancer. In advanced stages, chemotherapy may be administered alone or may be administered in conjunction with radiation as a radio sensitized chemotherapy to maximize the effects of radiation. Chemotherapy involves injecting or administering drugs that destroy cancer cells.
• Concurrent chemotherapy and irradiation is the mainstay of treatment for patients with tonsil cancer because tonsil cancer is typically not amenable to surgery due to its anatomic location. It entails administering low dosage chemotherapy to increase the efficacy of radiation.
• Targeted therapy: These are specialized medications that specifically target a certain cell type in accordance with the biopsy report, IHC, and flow cytometry.
• Trials in humans.
