Salivary Gland Cancer: Causes, Symptoms and Treatment

Salivary glands are a very important part of the interior area of our face and throat as they are responsible for creating and releasing saliva in the mouth. Saliva is very important for good health as it contains a huge amount of enzymes that helps in proper digestion of food that we eat. The three major pairs of salivary glands are parotid glands, sublingual glands, and submandibular glands. In addition, there are a huge number of other minor salivary glands that remain on the wall of our mouth and throat. Salivary gland cancer or tumor often begins at the roof or upper part of our inner mouth which is also known as palate. It should be noted that more than 50% of all salivary gland tumors are not cancerous and they remain benign without causing any harm. On the other hand, the cancerous salivary gland tumors are a type of head and neck cancer.

What causes salivary gland cancer?

There are certain risk factors that may cause this disease in patients suffering from salivary gland tumors. These risk factors are:

1. Older age patients often suffer a higher risk

2. Radiation therapy or unnoticed exposure of radiation

3. Exposure of inner mouth to certain cancer causing substances such as tobacco There can be a number of other causes which are however not significant enough to be noted here.

Symptoms of Salivary Gland Cancer:

Early detection of salivary gland cancer may help the patient in attaining proper treatment without suffering too much severity. For early detection, noticing the symptoms is necessary. Common symptoms of this health issue are as follows:

-An ulcer type lump in the mouth, or near ear, teeth, jaws, or lips.

-If a person is often observed draining fluid from their ear, then it may be a symptom

-Trouble in opening mouth widely and difficulty in swallowing food or drinking water.

-Weakness or numbness in face.

-Light or excruciating pain in the face or inner mouth that doesn't ease even with medications.

Treatment of Salivary Gland Cancer:

There are a number of treatments and cure for patients suffering from this illness.. The type of treatment a patient will have to undergo depends on the stage at which the cancer has reached. One of the very common treatments is surgical removal of the cancerous salivary gland. Surgical treatment is often collaborated with radiotherapy to kill all the possible cancerous cells in order to avoid recurring salivary gland cancer. Radiation therapy is another effective solution or treatment to kill cancer cells. One may undergo fast neutron radiation therapy or they may require photon-beam radiation therapy.

Another significant treatment is chemotherapy. Specific medicines are used for controlling and stopping the growth of cancerous cells in the mouth and salivary glands. With the help of rediosensitizers, tumor cancer cells are made more sensitive towards radiotherapy.

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