Types of Cancer We Treat

Thyroid gland

Thyroid cancer starts in the thyroid gland, which makes hormones that help regulate your metabolism, heart rate, blood pressure and body temperature. It’s located in the front part of your neck, below the thyroid cartilage (Adam’s apple). It’s shaped like a butterfly, with a lobe on the right and another on the left, joined by a narrow piece of gland called the isthmus. Thyroid cancer is generally divided into two categories:

• Differentiated thyroid cancer includes:
  • Well-differentiated tumors are highly treatable and usually curable.
  • Poorly differentiated and undifferentiated thyroid tumors (papillary, follicular or anaplastic) are less common and aggressive.
• Medullary thyroid cancer: A neuroendocrine cancer that develops from the C cells of the thyroid gland, which normally make calcitonin, a hormone that helps control the amount of calcium in blood. 

Treatment Options for Thyroid Cancer

Parathyroid glands

Parathyroid cancer of the parathyroid glands, four pea-sized glands behind, but attached to the thyroid gland, are rare. The parathyroid glands help regulate the body’s calcium levels. Parathyroid cancers are often found because they cause high blood calcium levels. Larger parathyroid cancers may also be found as a nodule near the thyroid. No matter how large the nodule is, the only treatment is to remove it surgically.

Salivary glands

Salivary gland cancer starts in one of the salivary glands. The function of salivary glands is to make saliva, the lubricating fluid found in your mouth and throat, which contains enzymes that begin the process of digesting food. It also contains antibodies and other substances that help prevent mouth and throat infections. There are both major and minor salivary glands inside and near your mouth. 

The major glands are the parotid (in front of your ears), submandibular (below the jaw) and sublingual (under the floor of your mouth and below either side of the tongue).
The minor glands are under the lining of the lips and tongue, in the roof of the mouth, and inside the cheeks, nose, sinuses and larynx (voice box).

Tumors in the minor glands are uncommon, but they are more often cancerous than benign and usually start in the roof of the mouth. Most salivary gland tumors are benign. There are many types, such as adenomas, oncocytomas, Warthin tumors and benign mixed tumors (also known as pleomorphic adenomas). 
Treatment Options for Salivary Glands

Pituitary gland

The pituitary gland is a small, bean-shaped gland situated at the base of your brain, somewhat behind your nose and between your ears. Despite its small size, the gland influences nearly every part of your body. The hormones it produces help regulate important functions, such as growth, blood pressure and reproduction.
Treatment Options for Cancer of the Pituitary Gland

The aerodigestive tract, including:

Larynx

Cancer of the larynx is also known as laryngeal cancer. The larynx is commonly called the voice box, the short passageway formed by cartilage just below your throat. It contains the vocal cords, which vibrate as air passes through them to make speech. It also has a small piece of tissue, called the epiglottis, which moves to cover the voice box to prevent food from entering the air passages. Most laryngeal cancers are squamous cell carcinomas (cancer that begins in flat cells lining the larynx). 
Treatment Options for Laryngeal Cancer

Mouth (Oral cavity)

Cancer of the oral cavity or mouth is called oral cancer. It includes the lips, teeth and gums; the front two-thirds of the tongue; the inner lining of the cheeks and lips (buccal mucosa); the floor of the mouth (the area under the tongue); the roof of the mouth (hard palate); and the small area of the gum behind the wisdom teeth (the retromolar trigone). Most develop in the squamous cells found in your mouth, tongue and lips.

Treatment for early stages usually involves surgery to remove the tumor and cancerous lymph nodes. In addition, other tissue around your mouth and neck may be removed. 
Treatment Options for Mouth (Oral) Cancer

Nasal Cavity & Sinuses

Nasal and sinus cancers are diseases in which cancerous cells are found in the nasal cavity or paranasal sinuses. The nasal cavity is the hollow space inside your nose. The paranasal sinuses are air-filled sacs distributed into several areas of your face. Maxillary sinuses are under your eyes in the cheek bones. Frontal sinuses are above your eyes in the forehead area. Ethmoid sinuses are between your nose and eyes. Sphenoid sinuses are at the bottom of your skull, under the pituitary gland.

There are several types of nasal-sinus cancers: squamous cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma, adenoid cystic carcinoma, esthesioneuroblastoma (olfactory neuroblastoma) and sinonasal undifferentiated carcinoma. 
Treatment Options for Cancer of the Naval Cavity and Sinuses

Skull Base

Skull base cancers occur in the base or floor of the cranium, the part of your skull on which your brain rests. It consists of five bones that are fused together, separating your brain from the sinuses, ears, eyes and other parts of your head. The skull base area of the body contains many nerves, blood vessels, and glands, and damage can affect vision, hearing, speech, swallowing, and in some circumstances may be life-threatening.

Skull base tumors are growths that can form along the base of your skull or directly below the skull base in areas such as the sinuses. Many are benign (noncancerous) and grow slowly over time. In rare cases, a skull base tumor can be cancerous, which means that it is able to spread to other parts of your body. There are several types of skull base tumors and each grows slightly differently, which is an important consideration during treatment. These include: acoustic neuromas, chordomas, chondrosarcomas, craniopharyngiomas, meningiomas, paranasal sinus cancers, pituitary adenomas and Rathke’s cleft cysts. 
Treatment Options for Skull Base Tumors

Throat

Throat cancer is a disease that develops in your throat (pharynx) or voice box (larynx). The pharynx is a muscular tube about 5 inches long that begins behind your nose and leads to the esophagus. Throat cancer most often begins in the flat cells that line the inside of your throat. Though most throat cancers involve the same types of cells, specific terms are used to differentiate the part of the throat where cancer originated.

• Nasopharyngeal cancer begins in the nasopharynx (the part of your throat just behind your nose).
• Oropharyngeal cancer begins in the oropharynx (the part of your throat right behind your mouth that includes your tonsils).
• Hypopharyngeal cancer (laryngopharyngeal cancer) begins in the hypopharynx (laryngopharynx), the lower part of your throat, just above your esophagus and windpipe.
• Glottic cancer begins in the vocal cords.
• Supraglottic cancer begins in the upper portion of the voice box and includes cancer that affects the epiglottis, which is a piece of cartilage that blocks food from going into your windpipe.
• Subglottic cancer begins in the lower portion of your voice box, below your vocal cords.

Treatment Options for Throat Cancer

Tonsil and tongue base (Oropharynx)

Oropharynx cancer, also called oropharyngeal cancer, is cancer in the middle part of the throat, including the tonsils (two oval-shaped pads in the back of your mouth that are part of your body's germ-fighting immune system), the back one-third of the tongue and the soft palate.

Most of these cancers are squamous cell carcinoma and caused by human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. The cancer begins in the pits of the lingual tonsils. The throat has three types of tonsils: the pharyngeal tonsil (adenoids) in the back of the throat, the palatine tonsils on the sides of the throat, and the lingual tonsils on the base of the tongue.

• Tonsil cancer usually involves the palatine tonsils. Most tonsil cancers are squamous cell carcinomas, but some are lymphomas — a group of blood cell tumors that begin in cells of the body's immune system.
• Tongue cancer starts in the cells of the tongue and can cause lesions or tumors. It can occur on the front of the tongue, which is called oral tongue cancer, or it can occur at the base of the tongue, near where it attaches to the bottom of your mouth. This is called oropharyngeal cancer.

Both tonsil and tongue cancers are also called throat cancer.
Treatment Options for Oropharynx Cancer

Trachea

Tracheal cancer is a rare disease that starts in the trachea, also called a windpipe. This is the tube that connects your mouth and nose to your lungs. It splits into two tubes: the right bronchus, which joins the right lung, and the left bronchus, which joins the left lung. Air passes through the trachea and goes in and out of your lungs as you breathe. The trachea is in front of the gullet (esophagus), which is the tube that food goes down. The trachea is about 5 to 7 inches long. It’s made up of rings of tough, fibrous tissue. There are two main types of tracheal cancer. The most common type starts in the squamous cells that line different parts of your body, such as the airways.
Treatment Options for Trachea Cancer