About laryngeal cancer radiotherapy

Radiotherapy uses high energy rays to kill cancer cells. You can't feel radiotherapy at all while you are having treatment. It is like having an X-ray. It works because cancer cells are more likely to be killed by radiation than normal cells. But some normal cells will also be damaged and this is what causes side effects. A course of radiotherapy for laryngeal cancer usually has some side effects. There is information about laryngeal cancer radiotherapy side effects on the next page in this section. There is also information about what it's like to have radiotherapy treatment.

For cancer of the larynx, you may have radiotherapy

• On its own
• After surgery
• With chemotherapy or biological therapy
• To control symptoms

Radiotherapy is often the first choice of treatment for cancer of the larynx. Most people who have early stage laryngeal cancer will be cured with this treatment. Your doctors will suggest radiotherapy rather than surgery if possible, because radiotherapy treatment helps you to keep your voice. Whether this type of treatment is suitable for you depends on

• The size of the cancer
• How far it has grown into the tissues of the larynx
• Exactly where in the larynx the cancer is

With early cancer of the larynx, you usually have treatment daily from Monday to Friday over about 3 to 7 weeks. Your specialist calculates the total radiotherapy dose that you need over the whole course and then divides it up into fractions. Dividing the treatment into small fractions helps to reduce the side effects.

Recent research has shown that chemotherapy treatment given before radiotherapy can shrink the tumour and make the radiotherapy work better. Chemotherapy given in this way is known as neo adjuvant chemotherapy.

Radiotherapy after surgery is called adjuvant therapy. It helps to stop your cancer from coming back. Doctors use radiotherapy after surgery for a number of different reasons. You may have it if the cancer is likely to come back because

• The tumour was difficult to remove
• Your surgeon thinks there may be cancer cells left behind because they could not get a clear margin
• The tumour had grown through the larynx wall
• Cancer cells were found in your lymph nodes or breaking through the outer wall of the lymph nodes

You usually have treatment daily, from Monday to Friday for about 4 to 6 weeks. So you will have 20 to 30 separate treatments (fractions).

You may have radiotherapy and chemotherapy or biological therapy at the same time for a locally advanced larynx cancer (stage T3 or T4). Doctors have found through research that these treatments sometimes work better when you have them together. The chemotherapy or biological therapy can help to shrink or control the cancer. If you have radiotherapy and chemotherapy you may hear this called synchronous chemoradiation. There is more about chemoradiation in the chemotherapy for laryngeal cancer section. There is a page about biological therapy for laryngeal cancer.

Radiotherapy can relieve symptoms in advanced cancer of the larynx. You may hear this called palliative radiotherapy. Your cancer may be causing you to have difficulty in swallowing. Or it may be pressing on your windpipe and making it difficult for you to breathe. Radiotherapy can shrink the cancer for a time and relieve these symptoms. Radiotherapy can also help to relieve pain. To control symptoms, you are most likely to have a short course of a few treatments, over a few days.

Radiotherapy uses high energy rays to kill cancer cells. Look at the radiotherapy section in CancerHelp UK. It tells you more about this type of treatment including

• What radiotherapy involves
• How your radiotherapy treatment is planned
• Possible side effects of radiotherapy to the head or neck

There are books and booklets about radiotherapy, some of which are free. Look at our reading list for laryngeal cancer.