Oropharyngeal cancer is a type of head and neck cancer in which cancer cells are found within an area of your throat called your oropharynx. More than 90% of oropharyngeal cancers are squamous cell carcinomas, which are cancers arising from the flat surface cells lining your mouth and throat.
The oropharynx includes the back one-third of the tongue, tonsils, soft palate and the side and back walls of the throat. Cancer in any part of the pharynx is known as pharyngeal cancer, and cancer specific to the oropharynx is called oropharyngeal cancer.
Smoking or being infected with human papillomavirus(HPV) can increase the risk of oropharyngeal cancer.
Signs and symptoms of oropharyngeal cancer include a lump in the neck and a sore throat.
Tests that examine the mouth and throat are used to help detect (find), diagnose, and stage oropharyngeal cancer.
Oral and oropharyngeal cancers can often be cured, especially if the cancer is found at an early stage. Although curing the cancer is the primary goal of treatment, preserving the function of the nearby nerves, organs, and tissues is also very important.
Transoral robotic surgery and transoral laser microsurgery. Transoral robotic surgery (TORS) and transoral laser microsurgery (TLM) are minimally invasive surgical procedures. This means that they do not require large cuts to get to and remove a tumor. In TORS, an endoscope is used to see a tumor in the throat, the base of the tongue, and the tonsils. Then 2 small robotic instruments act as the surgeon’s arms to remove the tumor. In TLM, an endoscope connected to a laser is inserted through the mouth. The laser is then used to remove the tumor. A laser is a narrow beam of high-intensity light.
