Head and Neck Cancer

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Questions to Ask Your Doctor About Your Cancer
(Free Handout)

Overview

Head and neck cancer is the term given to a variety of malignant tumors that develop in the

• oral cavity (mouth);
• pharynx (throat);
• paranasal sinuses (small hollow spaces around the nose lined with cells that secrete mucus);
• nasal cavity (airway just behind the nose);
• larynx ("Adam's apple" or voice box); and
• salivary glands (parotid, submanidular, sublingual glands that secrete saliva).

Many authorities also include skin tumors of the face and neck and tumors of the cervical lymph nodes.

Excluding superficial skin cancers, but including cancer of the larynx and thyroid, it is conservatively estimated that about 60,000 people are diagnosed with head and neck cancer annually—about 5% of all cancers diagnosed in the United States. There are more than half a million survivors of oral cancer, head cancer, and neck cancer living in the United States today.

Anatomy of the head and neck
The head and neck can be divided into several different regions:

Click here for image enlargement.

• nasopharynx: area behind the nose
• pharynx: hollow tube at the upper part of the throat that starts behind the nose, runs down to the neck, and becomes part of the esophagus, the tube that goes to the stomach
• oral cavity: lips, floor of mouth, tongue, buccal mucosa (lining inside the lips and cheeks), gingiva (gums) and hard palate (bony top of the mouth), salivary glands (parotid, submandibular and minor salivary glands)
• oropharynx: base of tongue, tonsillar region, soft palate and pharyngeal walls
• hypopharynx: bottom part of the throat
• larynx (voice box): supraglottic, glottic (vocal cords), and subglottic regions
• nasal cavity: paranasal sinuses (ethmoid and maxillary)

Risk Factors

Factors known to contribute to the risk of developing head and neck cancers include smoking (both tobacco and marijuana) or chewing tobacco and frequent alcohol use. Leukoplakia (white spots or patches in the mouth) also may be considered a risk factor, as this condition becomes cancerous in approximately one-third of patients.

Pathology
Most head and neck cancers are squamous cell carcinomas, tumors that develop in the tissue lining the hollow organs of the body. However, other tumor types also may be seen and include lymphoepithelioma, spindle cell carcinoma, verrucous cancer, undifferentiated carcinoma and cancers of the lymph nodes, called lymphoma (most often diffuse non-Hodgkins lymphoma).

Head and Neck Cancer Resources

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