Dawaa Reference

chronic

Laryngeal Cancer

Treatment options, dosing, cautions and Egyptian brands from the shipped Dawaa Reference card.

Evidence status

Checked against the sources named below

Sources3 sources

ICPC-3 (WONCA International Classification of Primary Care, 3rd edition) class RD26.00 - condition scope only, no dose · Laryngeal Cancer - StatPearls - NCBI Bookshelf - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK526076/ · No dose - referral pathway, no medicine given in primary care

Verified against1 document
  • No dose - referral pathway, no medicine given in primary care

Verified date2026-08

Presentation reference

Is it this?

Reference only, to read alongside your own examination.

Symptoms — what the patient reports (4)

  • A change in voice is usually the earliest sign of a glottic tumour from immobility or fixation of the vocal cord
  • Pain on swallowing plus referred ear pain can signal advanced glottic disease [ear pain · painful swallowing]
  • Painful swallowing is the earliest complaint in supraglottic tumours, with voice change developing only once the glottis is involved [hoarseness · painful swallowing]
  • Late-stage disease across sites brings weight loss, trouble swallowing, aspiration, and airway obstruction [difficulty swallowing · weight loss]

Signs — what you find (7)

  • Nodal spread often feels like a fixed, firm, painless neck lump [neck lump]
  • The essential exam step is direct or fiberoptic laryngoscopy to view the tumour and check vocal cord movement
  • Tenderness over the thyroid cartilage points to direct tumour extension
  • Firm fullness just above the thyroid notch suggests spread into the pre-epiglottic space
  • An immobile vocal fold raises concern for laryngeal or vagus nerve involvement
  • Weakness of the accessory nerve points to spread beyond the lymph node capsule
  • Tongue or hypoglossal nerve weakness suggests extranodal spread or a large local tumour

Tests (5)

  • Diagnosis is confirmed by biopsy at direct laryngoscopy, or fine-needle sampling of a suspicious neck node
  • Contrast-enhanced neck CT is the standard staging study, showing areas laryngoscopy cannot assess
  • For likely advanced disease, chest CT and PET/CT look for spread to distant organs
  • Suspected spread into the oesophagus or hypopharynx warrants endoscopy or a barium swallow study
  • Baseline bloodwork before treatment covers a full blood count, platelets, liver and kidney panels, blood type, thyroid function, electrolytes, and albumin

If not this — what else fits (12)

  • A viral or other upper respiratory infection can mimic laryngeal cancer in a high-risk patient
  • Reflux (LPR/GERD) is a frequent mimic, especially in smokers, though it is no longer viewed as a true cause
  • Reactive lymphadenitis
  • A benign laryngeal tumour
  • Fungal laryngitis
  • A vocal cord polyp
  • A vocal cord nodule (singer's nodule)
  • Reinke oedema
  • Granulomatous disease such as Wegener granulomatosis
  • Sarcoidosis
  • Laryngeal tuberculosis
  • Syphilis

SourceStatPearls "Laryngeal Cancer" - disease-level clinical article

Presentation findings are traced to the source above.

1

NO DRUG THERAPY IN PRIMARY CARE (REFERRAL & ADVICE)

1st line
Adult dose and duration

Malignancy of the larynx, strongly associated with smoking and alcohol use, presenting with persistent hoarseness; the GP's role is early recognition and urgent ENT/oncology referral, with analgesia for symptom control alongside specialist treatment. - Refer, with advice

Paediatric dose

Children follow the same pathway: recognise and refer. No primary-care medicine is implied.

Dose source

No dose - referral pathway, no medicine given in primary care

Why

Malignancy of the larynx, strongly associated with smoking and alcohol use, presenting with persistent hoarseness; the GP's role is early recognition and urgent ENT/oncology referral, with analgesia for symptom control alongside specialist treatment.

Cautions
  • No medicine is prescribed for this in primary care - this entry is for recognition and referral. Anything given is decided by the service it is referred to.
  • RED FLAG - Beyond persistent hoarseness: odynophagia with referred ear pain indicates advanced disease, and a fixed painless neck mass is a nodal metastasis presentation.
  • RED FLAG - The late-stage warning symptoms that should also prompt urgent action are weight loss, dysphagia, aspiration, and airway compromise.
  • RED FLAG - Hoarseness persisting beyond three weeks, especially in a smoker, stridor, or a new neck lump.

Prices are indicative (dataset snapshot 2026-06); verify with the pharmacy.