Understand head and neck cancer

You use it to talk, taste, chew, laugh, kiss, and more, but have you ever taken the time to think about the many parts that make up your mouth? Also called the oral cavity, the mouth consists of the lips, gums, top and bottom of mouth (including under the tongue), front two-thirds of the tongue, and lining of the cheeks and lips. It also includes the gum areas behind the wisdom teeth. Cancer can develop in any of these areas.

The throat, also called the pharynx (pronounced “fare-inks”), is a 5-inch-long tube that starts behind the nose and travels down the neck. It makes sure that the food and water you eat and drink make their way toward the stomach and the air you breathe goes towards the lungs.

If your cancer is located in your throat, your doctor may refer to it as throat cancer, or he or she may be more specific and call it:

• Nasopharyngeal cancer if it is in the upper part of the throat, behind the nose. This area of the throat is called the nasopharynx.
• Oropharyngeal cancer if it is in the middle of the throat, which includes the base of the tongue, the tonsils, or the back of the mouth. This area of the throat is called the oropharynx.
• Hypopharyngeal cancer if it is in the lower part of the throat, which is called the hypopharynx.

When you talk, sing, laugh, grunt, or make any sort of noise, you’re using your voice box, which is also known as the larynx (pronounced “lair-inks”). This important area of the head and neck is a small passageway for air to move between the lungs and the throat. It contains the vocal cords, Adam’s apple, and a small flap of tissue called the epiglottis. Like the throat, the voice box is divided into three sections:

• Supraglottis: the upper part of the voice box, located above the vocal cords.
• Glottis: the middle part of the voice box, where the vocal cords are located.
• Subglottis: the lower part of the voice box.

Several bones are located around the nose. Small spaces inside those bones are filled with air and are called the paranasal sinuses. There are four pairs of paranasal sinuses:

• Maxillary sinuses: in the cheeks, on both sides of the nose below the eyes.
• Frontal sinuses: above the eyes and eyebrows.
• Ethmoidal sinuses: above the nose, between the eyes.
• Sphenoid sinuses: between the eyes, but deep behind the nose.

The nasal cavity is the space inside the nose itself and extends along the top of the roof of the mouth before curving downward where it meets the upper throat.

You have both major salivary glands and minor salivary glands. There are three pairs of major salivary glands:

• Parotid glands: the largest of all the salivary glands, located just below and in front of both ears.
• Sublingual glands: which sit under the tongue, in the bottom of the mouth.
• Submandibular glands: located beneath the jawbone.

In addition, hundreds of invisible minor salivary glands are sprinkled throughout the mouth, mainly in the tongue; the lining of the lips; the top of the mouth; the inside the cheeks, nose, sinuses; and the voice box.