Treatments for moderately advanced laryngeal cancer
You may be offered the following treatments for moderately advanced (stage 3) laryngeal cancer. Your healthcare team will suggest treatments based on your needs and work with you to develop a treatment plan.
Chemoradiation
Chemotherapy uses drugs to destroy cancer cells. Radiation therapy uses high-energy rays or particles to destroy cancer cells. Chemotherapy and radiation therapy given during the same time period (called chemoradiation) is a standard treatment for moderately advanced laryngeal cancer.
If you can’t tolerate chemoradiation because of the side effects or other health issues, you may have radiation therapy or chemotherapy on its own.
Find out more about radiation therapy and chemotherapy for laryngeal cancer.
Radiation therapy
Radiation therapy uses high-energy rays or particles to destroy cancer cells. Radiation therapy may be used to destroy cancer cells left behind after surgery (called adjuvant therapy).
Find out more about radiation therapy for laryngeal cancer.
Surgery
You may be offered surgery for moderately advanced laryngeal cancer.
The type of surgery you have will depend on where the cancer is in the larynx (voice box). If cancer is above the vocal cords (supraglottic carcinoma) or in the vocal cords (glottic carcinoma), surgery may include:
- laser surgery to remove the tumour
- laryngectomy to remove part or all of the larynx
- surgery to remove lymph nodes in the neck
Surgery is usually not done to treat moderately advanced cancer below the vocal cords (subglottic carcinoma). In rare cases, a total laryngectomy will be offered to remove all of the larynx.
Find out more about surgery for laryngeal cancer.
Clinical trials
Talk to your doctor about clinical trials open to people with laryngeal cancer in Canada. Clinical trials look at new ways to prevent, find and treat cancer.
Find out more about clinical trials.
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