Smoking is the most important factor triggering laryngeal cancer Laryngeal cancer is the most prevalent malignant tumor among head and neck cancers, which mostly occurs in middle-aged and elderly men. There are many factors in the development of laryngeal cancer, such as smoking, alcohol consumption, environment, genetics, chronic inflammation, viral infection, etc. Among them, smoking is the most important factor triggering laryngeal cancer. According to epidemiological survey, about 88%D98% of laryngeal cancer patients have a long-term smoking history, and more than half of them have more than 20 cigarettes per day. The risk of laryngeal cancer for smokers is 39 times higher than that for non-smokers. The higher the daily smoking volume, the longer the “smoking age”, the younger the age of starting to smoke, the younger the long-term and heavy inhalation of “secondhand smoke” and the younger the age of starting to inhale “secondhand smoke”, the higher the risk of developing laryngeal cancer. The higher the risk of laryngeal cancer. After quitting smoking, the risk of laryngeal cancer decreases each year and returns to the non-smoking risk after about 10-12 years. Many sources suggest a strong causal relationship between smoking and laryngeal cancer. Canada once investigated 3924 cases of laryngeal cancer and concluded that 84% of them were related to smoking. This fact is well understood when we see smokers leisurely puffing hot smoke out of their noses. And the incidence rate is statistically 8 times to 30 times higher in men than in women. Why smoking causes throat cancer, and not all smokers get cancer There are many other carcinogens in tobacco, and PAHs have been considered the primary carcinogen. Tobacco itself contains only very small amounts of PAHs, and most of these PAHs are generated during the roasting process. However, the PAHs previously thought to have no direct carcinogenic activity have been confirmed. After entering the human body, they are activated by the action of aromatic hydroxylase to become active final carcinogens, which then covalently bind to DNA, RNA and protein macromolecules in cells, thus causing mutations in the genetic material of cells. However, due to genetic differences, the induction force of aryl hydroxylase varies among individuals, and smokers with high induction force are bound to have more activated end carcinogens in their laryngeal mucosal epithelial cells during long-term smoking, which repeatedly and chronically act on the laryngeal mucosa and eventually lead to carcinogenesis under the synergistic effect of other factors. Why smoking is addictive and not easy to quit All tobacco products contain a certain amount of nicotine (nicotine). Nicotine is a colorless, oily substance, volatile, easily soluble in water, highly toxic, take two or three drops is enough to make for death, inhale a small amount in the lungs, will make people feel headache, dizziness, drowsiness. Nicotine is a substance that makes people addicted to cigarettes, the role of nicotine in tobacco is equivalent to the role of morphine and cocaine in opium. The biochemical effects of nicotine when the blood nicotine level drops. Can make people smoke again or use tobacco products once more desire. Because nicotine can cause mood changes, smoking can provide physical comfort and satisfaction when the nicotine level in the blood drops. Three early signs of hoarseness and neck lumps are important. Persistent hoarseness is one of the early signs of laryngeal cancer. Because laryngeal cancer involves the vocal cords, even if the size is small, hoarseness will appear. Another early symptom of laryngeal cancer is abnormal sensation in the throat. Foreign body sensation, urgency or swallowing discomfort are the early symptoms of supraglottic laryngeal cancer. This symptom is similar to that of chronic laryngitis and can easily be misdiagnosed as chronic pharyngitis, so this type of cancer is often not detected until the middle or late stage. Cough with blood in sputum may also be an early sign of laryngeal cancer. Since small cancer tumors can produce an irritating dry cough and small tumor breakage can cause blood in sputum, patients often have the feeling of mucus sticking to their throat, so they often “wash their throat”. However, blood in sputum is often a symptom of advanced tumors. Middle-aged and elderly people are prone to laryngeal cancer, especially those who smoke for a long time, drink a lot of alcohol, eat hot food, often eat chili and like to eat barbecue, and suddenly find a change in speaking voice should be alert to laryngeal cancer, because hoarseness is the earliest symptom of laryngeal cancer, followed by difficulty in pronunciation and finally loss of voice. Laryngeal cancer often appears in the early stage of cervical lymph node metastasis, and some patients first feel the lump in the neck and then discover laryngeal cancer after examination. Early diagnosis Given that laryngeal cancer is closely related to long-term excessive smoking and drinking, it is recommended that those who are over 40 years old, have long-term history of smoking and drinking, have hoarseness or throat discomfort or foreign body sensation should go to hospital for examination as early as possible. The diagnosis of laryngeal cancer can be confirmed by laryngoscopy, fiberoptic bronchoscopy, smear of secretion or biopsy. Early treatment When it comes to treatment, the first thing is to clarify the stage of tumor. Nowadays, tumor staging is mainly based on the TNM staging of the International Union Against Cancer (UICC), in which T is the size and extent of tumor involvement, N is the lymph node metastasis, and M is the presence of distant metastasis. For laryngeal cancer, laryngoscopy, CT, ultrasound and even PET-CT are used to determine each value of TNM to determine the stage, and there are stages I-IV in total. Generally speaking, radiotherapy and surgery are equally effective for stage I lesions, while the survival rate of radiotherapy for stage II lesions and above is gradually inferior to that of surgery. Stage I here mainly refers to the lesions of supraglottis cancer limited to the epiglottis, ventricular zone, laryngeal vestibule or aryepiglottic crease with no restriction of vocal fold activity or the lesions of vocal fold cancer limited to one side of vocal fold or anterior union with no restriction of vocal fold activity. Subglottic carcinoma is usually not suitable for radiotherapy because it is difficult to detect in early stage and is often adenocarcinoma. For more advanced patients, adjuvant radiotherapy can be given before or after surgery. What are the symptoms of late stage laryngeal cancer? The main symptoms are: 1. Hoarseness: It is the earliest symptom of laryngeal cancer, which is persistent and worsens gradually. The early symptoms of subglottic cancer are not significant, while hoarseness is a more advanced symptom. Foreign body sensation and pain in throat: It is often the early symptom of supraglottic cancer. After cancer breaks down, pain in throat can appear, sometimes radiating to the ipsilateral ear, which is the later symptom. 3.Coughing and blood in sputum: it occurs after the cancer has broken down and is a common symptom. 4.Difficulty in breathing: It is a symptom of more advanced stage, indicating that the cancer has developed to block the laryngeal cavity. 5.Cervical lymph node metastasis: it can be metastasized to ipsilateral deep middle neck lymph nodes, and may be metastasized to the opposite side in the late stage. 6.Laryngoscopy: In early stage, the vocal folds are thickened, one side is congested with blood and the surface is rough and uneven, gradually granular elevation appears on the surface of vocal folds, and then papillary or cauliflower-like swelling appears, later the movement of vocal folds is restricted or fixed, in late stage, it often becomes ulcer and develops to the upper and lower part of larynx and invades the adjacent tissues of larynx, and there are lymph node metastasis in the neck. Small examples make you more aware of laryngeal cancer “At least four packs of cigarettes a day!” Huang, 65, proudly told his doctor. However, when he was confronted with the pathology report – supraglottic carcinoma, his face showed remorse. Supraglottic carcinoma is a more serious type of laryngeal cancer, because the early symptoms are not obvious, late detection and rapid metastasis, once diagnosed, the whole larynx will be surgically removed. On December 13, Huang was pushed into the operating room accompanied by the service staff. On the operating table, time passed by minute by minute, and the family waited anxiously outside the operating room. During the operation we to a red date large tumor has filled the right pear-shaped fossa, and has been flush with the upper edge of the thyroid cartilage. If further delayed, the effect of surgery would be greatly reduced. After several hours of surgery, the surgeon successfully removed the tumor and all the laryngeal tissues, and kept the approaching death out of the door. After the surgery, the patient lost weight significantly after more than 10 days of nasal feeding. After further recovery, he still needs preventive radiotherapy, but he finally won the first battle in this fight to the death with cancer. Smoking is harmful to health and life-threatening. There are countless diseases caused by it, so let’s stay away from it!