The mortality rate of intermediate and advanced tonsil cancer is related to pathological staging, tumor stage, treatment, and the patient’s physical condition. Overall, the 5-year survival rate of early stage with active treatment is more than 90%.
Tonsillar cancer is a kind of malignant tumor in oropharynx, which is more common among malignant tumors of oropharynx, and it is most common in men over 40 years old, with peak age of onset at 40~60 years old. There is no obvious clinical symptom in the early stage, but in the late stage, it may have sore throat, which is aggravated by swallowing, and radiated to the face of same side of the auricle and often accompanied with halitosis, hemorrhage, and difficulty in opening the mouth.
Tonsillar cancer is generally characterized by obvious enlargement of one side of tonsil, with ulcerated and not smooth surface or nodular elevation, hard to touch, easy to bleed, inactive adhesion between tonsil and surrounding tissues; swollen lymph nodes can be touched under the angle of the mandible on the same side, which are hard, inactive and have no compression pain.
Tonsillar cancer is easy to metastasize to upper neck lymph nodes, and in the late stage, there will be symptoms such as dysphagia, dyspnea, enlarged neck lymph nodes, etc. Moreover, it will also metastasize to distal organs such as lungs, liver, bones and mediastinum, etc. The mortality rate of middle and late-stage tonsillar cancer is higher; however, if it is detected at an early stage without lymph node and distant metastasis, the diseased tissues can be removed completely by surgery, and the survival rate is relatively high.
If there is enlargement of one side of tonsil, it is necessary to go to the hospital in time, standardize the treatment under the doctor’s guidance to improve the survival rate, and avoid long-term drinking and smoking in daily life.