I am 23 years old. Can I speak naturally after throat cancer surgery? Or should I go for radiation therapy.
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Depends where and the stage See a head and neck cancer surgeon.
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By throat cancer we usually mean mean laryngeal, or pharyngeal cancers. The options depend upon the stage of the cancer. If early stage T1 or T2 vocal cord disease, you may be offered either laser excision or radiation. The voice quality is almost similar with both, but may be poorer with laser especially if the anterior commisure is involved. Also, laser may be repeated, but radiation cannot. For more advanced diseases, the options are between organ preservation i.e. Chemoradiation vs surgery. Chemoradiation preserves the voice & the larynx (if salvage surgery is needed then it has higher morbidity than upfront laryngectomy, but is not recommended if the cartilage is involved by the disease (in which cases partial laryngectomy or supracricoid laryngectomy may be done if feasible) or if the larynx is dysfunctional i.e. Aspiration and voice hoarseness due to fixed Hemilarynx then a near total (voice preserving) or a total laryngectomy would be done, with a permanent stoma. After total laryngectomy, voice can be restored via 3 methods: 1) Tracheoesophageal puncture (TEP) where a hole is made between the trachea & Esophagus and a one way valve is inserted to allow air to move across & produce voice 2) Esophageal speech: swallows air is burped out to create vibrations and sound 3) Electrolarynx: artificial instrument creates vibration & articulation is used to create speech I hope I was able to clarify your doubts. If you want to further discuss the same, feel free contact me directly.
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