Treatments for oropharyngeal cancer

Oropharyngeal cancer starts in the oropharynx, which is the middle part of the pharynx.

If you have oropharyngeal cancer, your healthcare team will suggest treatments based on your needs and work with you to develop a treatment plan. The plan is based on your health and specific information about the cancer. What you want or prefer is also important when planning treatment. When deciding which treatments to offer for oropharyngeal cancer, your healthcare team will consider:

• the stage
• where the tumour is found in the oropharynx
• the best way to preserve your breathing, swallowing or speech
• your age
• your overall health
• any medical problems you may have
• your lifestyle
• if you have had other treatments
• if you would be a good candidate for a clinical trial

HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancer responds better to chemotherapy and radiation therapy than HPV-negative oropharyngeal cancer does.

Surgery may be offered to remove stage 0 tumours of the oropharynx. If the cancer keeps coming back after more surgeries, radiation therapy may be offered.

Find out more about surgery for pharyngeal cancer and radiation therapy for pharyngeal cancer.

You may be offered the following treatments for stages 1 and 2 oropharyngeal cancer:

• radiation therapy – this is the best way to preserve how the oropharynx works
• surgery – the type of surgery depends on where the tumour is in the oropharynx

Find out more about radiation therapy for pharyngeal cancer and surgery for pharyngeal cancer.

You may be offered the following treatments for stage 3 oropharyngeal cancer:

• surgery followed by radiation therapy, with or without chemotherapy
• radiation therapy
• chemotherapy
• chemoradiation
• targeted therapy with cetuximab (Erbitux)

Find out more about surgery for pharyngeal cancer, radiation therapy for pharyngeal cancer, chemotherapy for pharyngeal cancer and targeted therapy for pharyngeal cancer.

You may be offered the following treatments for stage 4 oropharyngeal cancer:

• chemotherapy
• immunotherapy with pembrolizumab (Keytruda) or nivolumab (Opdivo), with or without chemotherapy
• targeted therapy with cetuximab, with or without chemotherapy
• stereotactic radiation therapy – if radiation has been used as a treatment before

Find out more about chemotherapy for pharyngeal cancer, immunotherapy for pharyngeal cancer, targeted therapy for pharyngeal cancer and radiation therapy for pharyngeal cancer.

Recurrent oropharyngeal cancer means that the cancer has come back after it has been treated. You may be offered the following treatments:

• immunotherapy with pembrolizumab or nivolumab, with or without chemotherapy
• chemotherapy with or without the targeted therapy drug cetuximab
• radiation therapy to relieve the symptoms from the cancer (palliative radiation therapy)

Find out more about immunotherapy for pharyngeal cancer, chemotherapy for pharyngeal cancer and radiation therapy for pharyngeal cancer.

Talk to your doctor about clinical trials open to people with oropharyngeal cancer in Canada. Clinical trials look at new ways to prevent, find and treat cancer. Find out more about clinical trials.

You may want to consider a type of care to make you feel better without treating the cancer itself. This could be because the cancer treatments donʼt work anymore, theyʼre not likely to improve your condition or they may cause side effects that are hard to cope with. There may also be other reasons why you canʼt have or donʼt want cancer treatment.

Talk to your healthcare team. They can help you choose care and treatment for advanced cancer.