Choking on water after radiotherapy for hypopharyngeal cancer is considered to be caused by poor therapeutic effect and ineffective control of disease development, which needs to be treated by chemotherapy and surgery. Or it may be caused by laryngeal edema due to radiotherapy, which can be treated with medication. 1. Poor therapeutic efficacy: hypopharyngeal carcinoma can generally present symptoms such as foreign body sensation in the throat, pain in swallowing, difficulty in swallowing, etc. With the development of the disease, the tumor increases in size and presses the mucous membrane of hypopharynx, which will cause dry cough. When drinking water mistakenly enters into trachea, it may cause choking cough. This kind of situation is mostly considered to be caused by the poor efficacy of chemotherapy and the lack of active control of disease development. It is suggested that patients can take chemotherapy according to their own conditions, or take hypopharyngectomy with preserving laryngeal function or hypopharyngectomy without preserving laryngeal function as prescribed by doctors. 2. Laryngeal edema: Due to the large irradiation field adopted in radiation therapy, laryngeal edema may appear in the course of treatment. Laryngeal edema can be manifested as choking and coughing when the patient has laryngeal edema. Patients can follow the doctor’s instruction to inhale glucocorticosteroids, such as budesonide, beclomethasone propionate and so on. There are many reasons leading to choking on water after radiotherapy for patients with hypopharyngeal cancer, and it is recommended that patients report to doctors in time.