Oropharyngeal Cancer

Treatment

The treatment options for oropharyngeal cancer include:

• Surgery: The goal of the surgery is to completely remove the tumor without damaging the healthy tissues while restoring normal functions, such as swallowing, speaking, and breathing. Surgery is also used as an adjuvant therapy along with chemotherapy and radiation therapy. In addition, in some patients, reconstructive surgeries are recommended to improve aesthetic appearance or restore functional ability. The types of surgeries include:
• Surgical resection: It involves the resection of the complete tumor along with the surrounding healthy tissues. Removing healthy tissues reduces the risk of recurrence.
• Transoral resection: It is a minimally invasive surgery used to remove the tumor in some cases of oropharyngeal cancer. The types of transoral resection procedures are transoral robotic surgery and transoral laser microsurgery.
• Glossectomy: This surgery involves the removal of some part or complete tongue. It is done in cases where oropharyngeal cancer spreads to the tongue.
• Tonsillectomy: This surgery removes the tonsils and is used to treat advanced-stage oropharyngeal cancer that has spread to the tonsils.
• Mandibulectomy: This surgery is performed to remove the lower jawbone. It treats oropharyngeal cancer that has spread to the mandible.
• Lymph node dissection: If the oropharyngeal cancer is suspected to or has spread to the lymph nodes, lymph node dissection surgery is done to remove the affected lymph nodes.
• Chemotherapy: Chemotherapy treats oropharyngeal cancer by arresting the cell life cycle. This results in stopping their cell division. Chemotherapy may also initiate a process that makes the cancer cells kill themselves. Chemotherapy may be given orally or through injection. Generally, a combination of chemotherapy drugs is prescribed for better efficacy.
• Radiation therapy: Radiation therapy kills cancer cells or stops their growth using high-energy radiation or particles. The high-energy radiation, when coming in contact with the cancer cells, generates heat and damages the cancer cells. The most common radiation therapy is external beam radiation therapy. However, in some cases, radiation oncologists may also recommend advanced radiation therapy options, such as proton therapy and intensity-modulated radiation therapy.
• Targeted therapy: Targeted therapy works by stopping certain processes that assist the cancer cells in growing, proliferating, and spreading. Some targeted therapy drugs also boost the immune system to damage cancer cells.
• Immunotherapy: Immunotherapy drugs strengthen the immune system and make it more effective against cancer cells. Further, certain cancer cells, such as those that have PD-1 protein, are not detected by the cells of the immune system. Immunotherapy drugs make the immune system cells more sensitive against the cancer cells with PD-1 protein.