Risk factor, survival rate, diagnosing & treating: Head & Neck Cancer - Dr. Debasish Datta M

Tumor as you know is any abnormal swelling anywhere in the body. In the head and neck area it is very commonly and frequently visible by the patient himself or herself. So tumor can be detected by the patient himself or herself. There will be an abnormal swelling anywhere in the head and neck area or the face area. Whenever there is an abnormal tumor or bump or swelling in the head and neck area, don’t ignore it. Please come and get it checked by a head and neck or an ENT specialist and they will take you forwards to diagnose the condition. Coming to head and neck tumors, not all head and neck tumors are malignant. So don’t get panicky if there is any head and neck tumor if there is any lump or any swelling in the head and neck. Not all of them are malignant, but few of them are. Basically head and neck cancers, quite often we see in patients who have been chronic smokers, and people who take large amounts of alcohol or a daily basis and on people who chew betel nut, pan and other chewing tobacco. Head and neck cancer, it mainly affects the throat inside the throat, you will not be able to see the pathology. The symptoms are sometimes confused with commonly occurring symptoms like chronic cough, change in voice, sometimes blood coming out of your cough. Any cough which is persisting for more than 6 weeks, please take note of it. Go and show your doctor. If there is blood coming out of your cough, please don’t ignore it. If there is a change in voice which is not subsiding with medications beyond 2 to 3 weeks, please don’t ignore it. There may be some malignancy developing inside your throat. Head and neck cancer in any malignancy what we say. There may be some malignancy which is developing inside your throat. In any malignancy what we say, we don’t talk about cure rates. We talk about longevity. How much of life we can give you once the cancer is detected. Well, as you all know by internet and other websites, cancers are staged, according to the management and we predict how much of 5 year survival or 10 year survival rate is there. So if you come in an early stage in stage 1 with adequate management, you have an excellent chance of 80 to 90% of 5 to 10 year survival in head and neck cancers. It is not true with any cancer in the body, I am now speaking about head and neck cancers. But if you come in the stage of 3 and 4, then obviously then obviously your longevity we cannot predict, the longer period. The 5 years survival may be less than 40 or 50%. So try not to ignore any chronic symptoms happening in your head and beck area or throat. You show your doctor. If it is malignant, we can start the management as soon as possible and your longevity will be increased.

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  Head and Neck Cancer