Diagnosis
If you have symptoms of cancer of
the larynx, the doctor may do some or all of the following exams:
Physical exam. The doctor will feel your neck and check your
thyroid, larynx, and lymph nodes for
abnormal lumps or swelling. To see your throat, the doctor may press down on
your tongue.
Indirect laryngoscopy.
The doctor looks down your throat using a small, long-handled mirror to check
for abnormal areas and to see if your vocal cords move as they should. This
test does not hurt. The doctor may spray a
local anesthesia in your
throat to keep you from gagging. This exam is done in the doctor's
office.
Direct laryngoscopy. The doctor inserts a thin, lighted tube called a
laryngoscope through your nose
or mouth. As the tube goes down your throat, the doctor can look at areas that
cannot be seen with a mirror. A local anesthetic eases discomfort and prevents
gagging. You may also receive a mild sedative to help you relax. Sometimes the doctor uses general anesthesia to put a person to sleep.
This exam may be done in a doctor's office, an outpatient clinic, or a
hospital.
CT scan. An x-ray
machine linked to a computer takes a series of detailed pictures of the neck
area. You may receive an injection of a special dye so your larynx shows up
clearly in the pictures. From the CT scan, the doctor may see tumors
in your larynx or elsewhere in your neck.
Biopsy.
If an exam shows an abnormal area, the doctor may remove a small sample of
tissue. Removing tissue to look for cancer cells is
called a biopsy. For a biopsy, you receive local or
general anesthesia, and the doctor removes tissue samples through a
laryngoscope. A pathologist
then looks at the tissue under a microscope to check for cancer cells. A
biopsy is the only sure way to know if a tumor is cancerous.
If you need a
biopsy, you may want to ask the doctor the following questions:
What
kind of biopsy will I have? Why?
How
long will it take? Will I be
awake? Will it hurt?
How
soon will I know the results?
Are
there any risks? What are the
chances of infection or bleeding after the biopsy?
If
I do have cancer, who will talk with me about treatment? When?
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