ABSTRACT
Pharyngeal cancer can be separated into nasopharyngeal, oropharyngeal, and hypopharyngeal categories according to the site of development. Risks for oropharyngeal cancer are heavy tobacco use, excessive alcohol intake, infection with human papillomavirus, diet low in fruits and vegetables, drinking maté, chewing betel quid, and occupational exposure. Finally, risks for hypopharyngeal cancer are tobacco smoking or chewing, heavy alcohol use, diet containing inadequate nutrients, and Plummer-Vinson syndrome. Patients with pharyngeal cancer may display troubled breathing, speaking, swallowing, or hearing; lump in the neck, sore throat, or ear pain; headache; trismus; otitis media; cranial nerve palsy; nasal obstruction or bleeding; bone pain; organ dysfunction; and paraneoplastic syndrome of osteoarthropathy. Oropharyngeal cancer often presents with a lump in the neck and sore throat; and hypopharyngeal cancer induces sore throat and ear pain. Current treatments for the early stages of pharyngeal cancer include radiotherapy and surgery, with surgery reserved for patients who fail to respond to radiotherapy.
