The muscles in the pharynx, face, tongue, and lips help people form words with sounds to make them understandable. The subglottis connects to the trachea, which takes air to the lungs. Cancer of the larynx is most commonly found in people who smoke. If a person has cancer of the larynx and smokes, smoking should be stopped. How Cancer of the Larynx is Treated There are treatments for all patients with cancer of the larynx.
Surgery is a common treatment of cancer of the larynx.
A total laryngectomy removes the entire larynx. During this operation, a hole is made in the front of the neck to allow the patient to breathe. This is called a tracheostomy. Laser surgery is used to treat small cancers involving one of the vocal cords. During laser surgery, a narrow, intense beam of light is used to cut out the cancer without any incisions on the neck.