Throat Cancer, referred to as oropharyngeal cancer in the medical community, has recently been discovered to be transmitted through oral sex as a result of the same HPV-16 virus that causes cervical cancer.  A recent John Hopkins University study found that 72% of throat cancer patients had this virus.  Most HPV-16 viruses leave the body naturally, but a small percentage of people develop high-risk strains.  A vaccine is available to prevent cervical cancer, and hopefully, scientists will be able to apply similar principals to combat throat cancer.

Of course, there are other risk factors that may cause throat cancer, such as daily cigar smoking, which doubles the risk.  Also included in the John Hopkins study were results indicating that a person who does not smoke or drink can still get throat cancer.  However, most patients have a history of heavy smoking and drinking.  Heavy smoking is believed to be a factor in 85% of throat cancer cases.  Patients who acquire throat cancer through the HPV virus have a better chance at responding to radiation therapy than those who are subjected to the disease as a result of heavy smoking and drinking.

Throat cancer includes cancer of Nasopharynx, which is the upper part of the throat, behind the nose; cancer of the Oropharynx, which is the middle part of the pharynx; and of the Hypopharynx, which is the bottom part of the pharynx.  Sometimes people categorize cancer of the voice box (larynx) with throat cancer.  The American Cancer Society estimates 23,100 new cases of throat cancer in 2007 and 5,840 deaths.   Symptoms include a sore throat that does not go away, a dull pain behind the breastbone, cough, trouble swallowing, weight loss for no known reason, ear pain, a lump in the back of the mouth, throat, or neck, and a change in voice.  The throat is examined during regular physical exams.  Discovering an abnormality might lead to imaging tests, an endoscopy or a biopsy.

Years ago, treatment options meant surgery first, which seriously impaired an individual's ability to eat and speak.  Today, radiation, chemotherapy and hyperthermia therapy, where body tissues are exposed to high heat, are traditionally the starting point of eradicating throat cancer cells.

Having a light breakfast may be the first step to prevention.  A recent study showed that women who ate a cooked breakfast and drank hot tea had twice the risk of developing throat cancer.  Women who skipped breakfast all together had a five times risk of developing throat cancer compared to the group that had a light breakfast, which fared the best of them all.  The heat from the tea may be an influence on its contribution to throat cancer risk factors. Ironically, tea demonstrated a 46% reduction in ovarian cancer for women.  A diet expert at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund in the UK claims 30% of all cancers could be preventable by dietary improvement.  The throat itself may be the cure to throat cancer.