Throat cancer

Overview

Throat cancer is cancer that forms in your throat (pharynx), voice box (larynx) or tonsils.

Treatment for throat cancer often involves surgery or radiation, and sometimes includes chemotherapy. Throat cancer treatment can damage the throat, causing changes in the way you eat, breathe and speak. Newer throat cancer treatments include ways that cause minimal damage to surrounding healthy tissue.

Read more about throat cancer.

Why choose Mayo Clinic for throat cancer

• Teamwork. At Mayo Clinic specialists work as a multidisciplinary team to treat throat cancer. Your throat cancer treatment team may include head and neck surgeons, radiation oncologists, medical oncologists, radiologists, pathologists, physical therapists and speech-language therapists. Other professionals are included as needed.
• A full range of treatment options. Mayo Clinic doctors work with you to review all of your treatment options and choose the treatment that best suits your needs and goals. The range of treatments offered to people with throat cancer includes a variety of surgical procedures from minimally invasive to extensive excisions with full reconstruction. Radiation, chemotherapy and targeted therapy are also provided.
• Innovative surgical techniques. Mayo Clinic has the experience level and technology to use minimally invasive transoral robotic surgery to treat throat cancer. Doctors at Mayo Clinic helped develop this surgical approach. Mayo Clinic also offers transoral laser microsurgery for certain voice box cancers.
• Latest in radiation therapy techniques. At Mayo Clinic, you receive state-of-the-art radiation therapy alone or in combination with chemotherapy or surgery. Radiation oncologists tailor treatment sessions for each person. They also use advanced treatments, including intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), stereotactic radiosurgery and brachytherapy to deliver precise doses of radiation to tumors with minimal exposure to surrounding normal tissue.
• Comprehensive cancer center. Mayo Clinic Cancer Center meets strict standards for a National Cancer Institute comprehensive cancer center, which recognizes scientific excellence and a multidisciplinary approach to cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment.

Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., is ranked among the Best Hospitals for cancer by U.S. News & World Report. Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla., and Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Ariz., are ranked high performing for cancer by U.S. News & World Report.

Mayo Clinic: Answers you can trust

At Mayo Clinic, we assemble a team of specialists who take the time to listen and thoroughly understand your health issues and concerns. We tailor the care you receive to your personal health care needs. You can trust our specialists to collaborate and offer you the best possible outcomes, safety and service.

Mayo Clinic is a not-for-profit medical institution that reinvests all earnings into improving medical practice, research and education. We're constantly involved in innovation and medical research, finding solutions to improve your care and quality of life. Your doctor or someone on your medical team is likely involved in research related to your condition.

Our patients tell us that the quality of their interactions, our attention to detail and the efficiency of their visits mean health care — and trusted answers — like they've never experienced.

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