Throat cancer and neck lumps

Posted by neckman to Disease/Illness, Sep 5, 2011 2:04pm

I am a Head and Neck Surgeon in Phoenix, Az. We are seeing an increase incidence in throat cancer in younger people which is due to the HPV virus. In the past throat cancer was mainly due to smoking. People need to be aware that their sexual practices when younger can result in serious problems when they get older. People should be aware of the signs of cancer. Masses in the neck are fairly common and are often the first physical findings of throat cancer.

I have been taking care of people with throat cancer for 20 years. Unfortunately the majority of patients we see already have advanced disease so we need to make people more aware of the disease. It is not publicized like breast cancer but it should be. The diagnosis is very important but the treatments can be very interesting to the general audience. We now use lasers and robototic technology to remove the cancers which can be shown to the audience on video.