Treatments and drugsBy Mayo Clinic staff Your treatment options
are based on many factors, such as the location and stage of
your throat cancer, the type of cells involved, your overall
health, and your personal preferences. Discuss the benefits and
risks of each of your options with your doctor. Together you can
determine what treatments will be most appropriate for you.
Radiation therapy uses high-energy beams, such as X-rays, to
deliver radiation to the cancer cells, causing them to die.
Radiation therapy can come from a large machine outside your
body (external beam radiation). Or radiation therapy can come
from small radioactive seeds and wires that can be placed inside
your body, near your cancer (brachytherapy). For early-stage
throat cancers, radiation therapy may be the only treatment
necessary. For more advanced throat cancers, radiation therapy
may be combined with chemotherapy or surgery. In very advanced
throat cancers, radiation therapy may be used to reduce signs
and symptoms and make you more