HWN Suggests

The Naked Truth about Tonsil Cancer

When I started training in the 1980s, the vast majority of our patients with these cancers were older men who had spent their lives smoking heavily and drinking hard. These were men that had out-lived many of their contemporaries despite wartime service, difficult lives, and chronic illness; now they were saddled with the burden of difficult, disfiguring, and often ineffective cancer treatment. My patient today, though, fits the new profile as a younger, healthy, non-smoking person. Recent research has confirmed the shift in the dominant demographic for tonsil cancers from older, smoking men to younger, non-smoking men. The cause for this shift is the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), particularly…

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Articles of Interest

From Tonsil Cancer to Cancer Free: A Journey of Enlightenment

He looked in my throat and proceeded to do a biopsy. Just after Thanksgiving, my biopsy results came back and he relayed to me the bad news that I had HPV-related tonsil cancer. That’s when the floor just seemed to drop right out from underneath me.

I thought I had a sore throat — but tonsil cancer left me ‘microwaved’

A sore throat typically means you’ve caught a nasty cold, but for one woman, it was much worse. Lisa Gooddy was stunned to discover her sore throat was actually tonsil cancer, resulting in radiation therapy that left the 51-year-old looking like she had been “cooked in a microwave.”

Signs and Symptoms of Tonsil Cancer

Tonsil cancer is the most common cancer of the oropharynx (the back of your throat). Several symptoms of tonsil cancer can mimic other illnesses, like the common cold or seasonal flu. That's why knowing the early warning signs is so important.

Symptoms of Tonsil Cancer: What to Watch for Beyond a Sore Throat

The following are signs and symptoms of tonsil cancer: A persistent painful throat, a bump in the neck that is painless, having trouble speaking, eating, or swallowing, blood in your saliva. Further bad breath, discomfort in the ears, having the feeling that something is stuck in the back of your throat, enlarged lymph nodes in the neck, a mouth ache in the rear that doesn't go away or one side's tonsil is bigger than the other needs to be investigated.

Tonsil Cancer in Non-Smokers: What’s Fuelling the Increase in Cases?

One of the most significant contributors to the rise in tonsil cancer cases among non-smokers is the Human Papillomavirus (HPV). This sexually transmitted infection has been linked to various types of cancers, including cervical, anal, and oropharyngeal cancers. More than 70% of tonsil cancer cases in non-smokers are now attributed to HPV.

Tony's Story: Tonsil Cancer

With a diagnosis of stage 2 squamous cell carcinoma of the tonsil, Tony Lentola might have expected a treatment plan that included the traditional six weeks of radiation – and possibly chemotherapy. Thanks to a referral to Ron Karni, MD, who routinely does surgery for oropharyngeal cancers using transoral robotic surgery with a CO2 laser (TORS-L), Lentola avoided the toxic treatments, the effects of which are particularly pronounced in head and neck cancer patients.

Why I support the HPV vaccine after my tonsil cancer treatment

When an ear, nose and throat doctor confirmed that I had tonsil cancer in October 2016, it came as something of a relief. I know that probably sounds strange. But compared to the other types of cancers I’d been worried I might have, this one didn’t seem so bad.

Resources

12 things to know about tonsil cancer 

One of biggest developments in the past five or so years has been the concept of “de-escalation” among patients with HPV-related tonsil cancer. That means we’re exploring whether we can get the same results with lower dosages of chemotherapy and/or radiation.

Massive Bio

Tonsil cancer can present symptoms such as a persistent sore throat, difficulty swallowing, and unexplained weight loss. These symptoms are often mistaken for less serious conditions, which can delay diagnosis.

Oracle Head & Neck Cancer UK

This is becoming the most common site of Head and Neck cancers due to the strong link with the human papilloma virus (HPV). It is also affecting younger people (40 to 45 year olds) than previously experienced. Tobacco use through smoking, chewing tobacco and second hand smoke exposure along with heavy alcohol consumption, especially when combined with tobacco use are also major causes of Tonsil cancer.

StatPearls

Tonsil cancer is the most common form of oropharyngeal malignancy, and its incidence is sharply rising due to the increasing prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV)-induced cancers. The presence of HPV can dramatically alter the prognosis of tonsillar cancer, and there have recently been significant changes made to the World Health Organization classification and TNM staging system to reflect this. Tonsil cancer can be managed by both surgical and oncologic approaches, although the optimal treatment regimen remains an area of ongoing research.