CARCINOMA

Description and Etiology

* Life threatening if allowed to proceed unchecked.
* Incidence: between 2% and 5% of all malignancies
* Primary symptom: persistent hoarseness
* Other symptoms include a lump in the neck, a broadening of the larynx, tenderness in the neck,
    and dysphagia.
* Cigarette smoking is a major cause of cancer of the larynx.
* The carcinogenic effects of cigar and pipe smoke are similar to those of cigarette smoke.
* Other causes include environmental irritants, chemicals and other contaminants, metabolic
    disturbances, and unknown causes.
* Ratio of men to women who develop these cancers: 5 to 1

Acoustical Signs

* Magnitude of effect will depend on extent of the carcinoma
* Frequency and perturbation will increase.

Measurable Physiological Signs

* Little data on the measurable physiological characteristics
* Airflow is usually increased with large leakage flows associated with large tumors
* Because of increased vocal fold stiffness, subglottal pressures may be increased

Observable Physiological Signs

* Laryngoscopic examination may show anything from a small tumor to a large and diffuse tumor
    involving any part of the vocal folds or larynx.
* Stroboscopic examination may diagnose early carcinoma better than other methods of
    examination

Pathophysiology

* Carcinoma invades the tissue and destroy the normally behaving cells.

Kim Reusch, 1997