Stage 4 Throat Cancer

In the United States alone, it is estimated that 3% of adults with malignancies are diagnosed with Stage 4 Throat Cancer. Based on national statistics, the bulk of the cases are usually men and they have twice the likelihood of dying from it than women. Another bad thing about this disease is that most diagnosed cases are already in their severe stage. But the most common culprit to this disease is something that almost everyone does and neglect, smoking.

Throat cancer or oropharnygeal carcinoma is basically the rapid growth of cells in the throat. It is divided into four stages and it gets worse as the patient goes up a step. Many medical experts point their fingers at smoking as the main cause of throat cancer. But the causes are multi-factorial like heredity, excessive alcohol consumption, getting afflicted with some type of STD and even hazards at work.

Stage 4 Throat Cancer Survival Rate primarily depends on the general condition of the patient, the aggressiveness of the treatment and to a certain degree the will power of the patient. The stage 4 throat cancer survival rate is considered to be good by many medical studies. During the early stages, the patient has a 90% chance of surviving the disease and about a third of it for those in the advanced stages. As mentioned earlier, with proper and early treatment, good support systems and maintaining good health can greatly increase the chance of surviving the disease.

However, a stage 4 throat cancer prognosis is affected by how good it was staged. This would require diagnostic examinations like biopsies to advanced imaging procedures like magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Proper staging is important because this will greatly help the medical team in properly treating the patient. Sadly, there were reported cases in which the cancer returned and this can greatly lower the chances of survival to less than 5 years regardless of treatments used. Additionally, total remission can only be declared if the patient went through that 5 years without any other complications.

In a nutshell, this type of cancer is very preventable since most of the causative factors are primarily from a person’s lifestyle. So, in this case and in any other kind of disease condition, prevention is better than cure. So start beating the habit of smoking and alcoholism. Follow a good exercise regimen and proper nutrition must also be observed. Also, if you’re experiencing sudden onset of difficulty of swallowing and other unusual symptoms, always consult a doctor because early diagnosis can have good prognosis.

Stage 4 throat cancer has gripped quite a lot of people even the legendary Michael Douglas had it. But with early detection, proper treatment and with the will power to make it through, you can win over this deadly disease.