Oropharyngeal Cancer: Treatment, Cost and Side Effects

Cancer, the word itself strikes fear in anyone who hears it. Almost every organ in a body can develop the malignant cancer cells and hence there are various types of cancer. Cancer is a painful and fatal disease, yes, but that doesn’t mean it has no cure. There may not be a large number of cancer survivors but a little ray of hope is all we need to grow and remove this unwanted evil from the face of the world. Here, we specifically talk about a particular type of cancer, oropharyngeal cancer and what are the ways of treating it. In or opharyngeal cancer, malignant cells develop in the tissues of the oropharynx. It is usually caused due to smoking or the oropharynx being infected by the human papillomavirus. A lump in the neck and a sore throat might be symptoms of oropharyngeal cancer. Cancers like this can usually be cured if detected at an early stage. Allowing the nearby nerves and organs to function properly is very important besides curing the cancer completely. Although, most of the oral types of cancers are curable, the treatment always begins with getting diagnosed and knowing the stage one is in. The treatment of any type of cancer differs according to the stage of cancer the victim is suffering from.

There are five main options for treating oropharyngeal cancer-

1. Surgery
2. Radiation therapy
3. Chemotherapy
4. Targeted Therapy

It is important that one discusses all types of treatment options with the doctor and one’s family so that one gets to know about all the possible side effects. The treatment often affects actions like speech, chewing and swallowing.

So, it is always advisable to get as many as two or three opinions before one chooses the type of treatment they want to undergo.

Surgery- if treating the cancer through surgery, the entire tumour is removed surgically along with some of the normal looking tissue surrounding the tumour. The surgery can be conducted manually as well through a robotic aid. Surgical treatment always carries the risk of blood clots, infections and pneumonia. For cancers that are large, surgery can be very complicated and has the risk of wound breakdown, problems with breathing and swallowing, etc.

Radiation Therapy- this type of therapy is mainly used to treat small sized cancers. Radiation therapy makes use of X-rays or particles that may destroy the cancer cells or slow down the rate of growth of the cancer cells. Large cancers may usually need both radioactive and surgical treatment for the proper removal and healing of the cancer. Radiation therapy can be used after surgery, alone as well as along with chemotherapy to treat cancer cells which may not have been removed during surgery. Side effects may include patterns like sunburns on the skin, hair loss, redness and soreness in throats and even loss of sense of taste.

Chemotherapy- it is the most commonly known treatment to any kind of cancer. Chemotherapy includes the use of anti-cancer drugs which are introduced to the body either directly through the veins or indirectly through the mouth. Chemotherapy along with radiation therapy is usually preferred over surgical treatment because of lesser risks and less harmful side effects. Although, side effects of chemotherapy may include hair loss, loss of appetite and diarrhoea.

Targeted therapy- this therapy makes use of drugs like cetuximab which is a manmade protein. This manmade protein targets the epidermal cells and stops or slows down the growth of oropharyngeal cancer cells. Any kind of cancer treatment always begins with the diagnosis. The sooner the disease is diagnosed, the higher the chances of it getting cured. Cancer, when diagnosed at the first two stages has a lot of potential to be cured as the cancer doesn’t spread out much through the body during the first few stages. In case of oropharyngeal cancer, there is a higher chance of it getting cured because oral cancers have a higher survival rate than any other forms of cancer. Treatments like the ones mentioned above done in the right time will pose lesser threat of any kind of side effects and even though the cancer doesn’t get cured it can be kept at a very low level, way lower than the fatal levels.

All the options of how one can treat oropharyngeal cancer that are discussed about above are not completely guaranteed to work. Especially when the cancer has reached the last stages despite the treatments or if the cancer has been diagnosed at a very later stage, these treatments won’t be of much use and the side effects would be aggravated to a much more painful level. Hence it is advised to ask the doctors for alternative treatment methods.

Yes, cancer is a very complicated disease and hence the treatment is also very complicated. Complicated treatments usually result in a lot of side effects. Most of the cancer treatments result in hair loss, weight loss, loss of appetite, improper digestion, weakness of the body, etc. and particularly in the case of oropharyngeal cancer, the above-mentioned methods of treatment may result in breathing problems, difficulty in swallowing, speech loss and other oral problems. Hence, it is advised that one gathers knowledge about all the possible side effects of a treatment and then choose the way of treatment they want to undergo.

Survival through cancer may be rare but not that rare either. There are numerous cases of cancer where the patients have survived and have lived a normal life post the treatment. Yet, there are a few guidelines that one must follow post-treatment. There are a lot of cases of fatigue in adult cancer survivors, and hence the survivors are advised to undergo treatments that help them fight fatigue. Fighting through cancer can be a very tough journey and a lot of survivors have complained of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Such patients are advised to undergo professional counselling that helps them fight PTSD and depression. One of the major causes of oropharyngeal cancer is smoking. So, the patients are advised to reduce smoking or more preferably quit smoking altogether.

Depending on the stage at which the patient gets his oropharyngeal cancer diagnosed, the time taken for complete recovery varies. If the cancer is diagnosed within the first few stages and the proper treatment procedure is followed, oropharyngeal cancer may take 3-4 years to be cured or brought under control. If it isn’t cured within the span of 3-4 years the intensity of treatment has to be increased and then the recovery might take few more years.

As mentioned earlier, cancer is a very complicated disease. Therefore, treatment of cancer is very expensive regardless of the country one gets treated in. In India, the treatment begins at about Rs. 2.5 lacs and may even reach up to 20 lacs. Although oropharyngeal cancer treatment is less complicated than that in other forms of cancer hence the prices might not shoot up that high.

The permanency of cancer treatment depends on how spread out the cancer cells were and how the treatment has been conducted. Sometimes it might seem that all the cancer cells have been removed but there might be some cancer cells left in the body that might relapse if not taken care of.

The conservative and traditional ways of treating cancer as the ones mentioned above have a lot of painful side effects as we know now. So, people usually look for other methods of treatment, and mostly resort to either Ayurveda and homeopathy. Ayurveda and homeopathy have also been proven to successfully treat cancer and also reduce the risk of side effects in a lot of cases. The Indian government’s current promotion for Ayurveda has provided for better funding in ayurvedic research and soon we will see a lot of development in the field of cancer treatment in ayurvedic research.