Dr. Raghunath S.k

Head and neck cancers usually start in the squamous cells and are also referred to as squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck. It occurs in the nose, throat, mouth and salivary glands. Head and Neck cancers are further classified into various categories on the basis of the area of the neck and head where they occur. Although head and neck cancers are different, they both occur inside the mouth, sinuses, nose, salivary glands and throat, which are considered as a group.

Salivary gland cancers are generally very infrequent. An assortment of cancer causing cells is present in salivary glands, so various types of salivary gland cancers have been found to occur.

Causes

If you are habituated to consuming tobacco and alcohol, then you are at the highest risk of suffering from head and neck cancer; however, it can also be caused in people who suffer from infections caused by human Papilloma virus. Other factors may include:

1. Oral health- Untreated gum diseases and oral cavity can be the reasons behind the development of the disease.
2. Sex- Women are less prone to head and neck cancers than men.
3. Lack of Nutrition- If your body is lacking in certain nutrients; you are more likely to catch the disease.
4. Age- People above 40 years of age are more susceptible to head and neck cancer.

Symptoms-

1. Difficulty in swallowing- Inflammation and pain in throat, leading to a problem in swallowing.
2. Hoarse Voice- Hoarseness or change in the voice.

Apart from this, there are some symptoms which show up in a specific area of your head and neck, such as:

1. Oral Cavity- A red or white patch on the tongue, the gums or the lining of the mouth.
2. Pharynx- Trouble in breathing and swallowing followed by a frequent headaches.

Treatment

1. Surgery- Surgery is usually to remove the primary tumour in toto or as much as feasible. Also, clearence of the lymph nodes that are involved is done during surgery at the same time.
2. Radiation Therapy- Radiation therapy is considered where functions like speech can be conserved.
3. Chemotherapy- Radiotherapy in combination with chemotherapy can help, if you are suffering from a more advanced form of head and neck cancers.

In case you have a concern or query you can always consult an expert & get answers to your questions!

The Human Papillomavirus or HPV is a large group of about 170 related viruses, each of which is given a number also called its type. This dangerous virus serves as one of the most commonly occurring cancer. The pre-cancerous lesions increase the risk of cancer of the cervix, vulva, vagina, penis, anus, mouth or throat. Out of the 170 viruses, about 40 of them are transmitted through sexual contact and are responsible for developing pre-cancerous conditions.

What are the symptoms and how do you detect them?
HPV infection is transmitted through sexual contact. Usually, when you have vaginal, anal and oral sex with someone carrying the HPV virus, you are bound to be affected by it. Genital areas provide the virus with a much suitable environment for them to survive. As it is a sexually transmitted infection, people with more active sex life (with multiple partners) are at a risk of being infected with this virus.

Depending upon the type of infected virus, symptoms vary from person to person and some don't seem to experience any symptoms. General warts and genital warts are the most commonly seen symptoms. If one experiences genital warts, they surely have HPV. Not all genital warts look the same. Some just look like raised or flat pink, flesh like, whereas some seem to have a cauliflower like an outgrowth. There may be one wart to several numbers of them. Some are bigger, and some are insignificantly small.

These symptoms may take up weeks to appear after you have sexual contact with any infected one. If these symptoms start appearing it might happen that the cells of those areas have already begun developing pre-cancerous stages.

How to avoid such infections and what to do if I start observing such symptoms?
There is not much to do, to eradicate any case of HPV infection. As it strikes the most sexually active ones, keep a healthy check on your sex-life. Make sure the ones whom you have intercourse with are not infected already. But as this is not possible every time, maintain a proper intimate hygiene. Keep your private areas clean, and besides that, you may opt for a periodic check-up of your intimate areas to make sure you don't get infected.

But if you have already started observing such symptoms, better not be late to pay a visit to your doctor as soon as possible. If caught at an early stage such infections are easily curable as it is one of the most commons ones. Although there is no HPV test for men in the healthcare sectors, for women HPV tests are available which are not to be confused with Pap smear tests. Your doctor may carry out a lab test to detect the virus.

What are the treatments?

Most of the HPV infections get destroyed over time, but if that is not the case, your doctor may use methods like cryotherapy, conization, laser therapy and loop electrosurgical excision procedure, which are to cure you easily.

The uterus is a very important organ within the human reproductive system as this is the chamber where an embryo grows into a baby. Due to a multitude of factors, the incidence of uterine cancer has been on the rise. Let's look at some of its symptoms.

Symptoms of uterine cancer
When cells within the uterus grow abnormally and turn malignant, it may be termed as uterine cancer. This may be in the form of a fibroid or tumor or be part of the uterine tissue itself. It may be caused due to a multitude of factors such as late menopause, radiation exposure, estrogen treatments and many others. Some of the common symptoms for uterine cancer could be:

a. Pain in the abdomen, lower back and especially the pelvic area.
b. Pain during urination,
c. Weight loss without any apparent reason
d. Vaginal bleeding with or without discharge
e. Pain during sex

Stages of uterine cancer:
Before we understand the stages of uterine cancer you need to know how doctors diagnose the various stages. This is done by the three following steps in the TNM method:

Tumor - Doctors try and search for tumors and locate them within the uterus, estimate its size and whether it is malignant or not.

Node - If the tumor is malignant, then doctors try to find out whether the tumor has reached the lymph nodes or not.

Metastasis - Doctors look for Metastasis which is whether the cancer has spread to other organs within the body and to what extent.

Stages of cancer - Cancer is primarily grouped in five stages from 0 to V according to the T, N and M stages mentioned below.

Stage 0 - This is a very early stage of cancer where the cells have malignant growth but are still small in number and haven't spread anywhere.

Stage I - If the cancer has developed a little but is restricted within the uterus, it is considered as stage one. This is also further divided into Stage 1A and 1B.

Stage II - When the cancer has started spreading but only to some parts of the cervix from the uterus, it is diagnosed as stage 2 uterine cancer.

Stage III - Categorized into Stage IIIA, Stage IIIB, Stage IIIC1 and Stage IIIC2, it is primarily where the cancer has spread to other organs but it is only limited to the pelvic area.

Stage IV A - When the cancer has gone beyond the pelvic area and also spread to the rectum and balder area.

Stage IV B - This is where the cancer has metastasized in the groin area or gone to other organs within the body as well.

In case you have a concern or query you can always consult an expert & get answers to your questions!