Treatment for laryngeal cancer

There are things you can do to help you feel more in control of your physical and mental health when preparing for treatment. In the hospital, preparing for treatment is also called prehabilitation or prehab.

Your treatment depends on where your cancer is, how big it is, whether it has spread anywhere else in your body and your general health.

Surgery can be used to remove laryngeal cancer, to try and cure it or to relieve its symptoms. 

Radiotherapy uses high energy waves similar to x-rays to kill cancer cells. It's often the first choice of treatment for laryngeal cancer.

Chemotherapy uses anti cancer drugs to destroy cancer. You might have it before surgery or radiotherapy, or alongside radiotherapy.

Treatment with chemotherapy and radiotherapy together is called chemoradiotherapy. Having the two treatments together often works better than having them on their own.

You might have targeted or immunotherapy drugs as part of your treatment for laryngeal cancer.

After treatment, you have regular check ups to look for signs of the cancer coming back or spreading. This is called follow up.