PALLIATION OF ADVANCED CARCINOMA OF THE PHARYNX.

Abstract

Introduction THE SYMPTOMS of advanced carcinoma of the oropharynx and base of the tongue are familiar to the otolaryngologist. They include pain radiating to the ears, dysphagia, odynophagia, trismus, fetor oris, and excessive salivation. In past years, the management of this type of patient devolved on the use of analgesics and narcotics, attention to oral hygiene and diet, and tracheostomies and gastrostomies. The patient often lingered on in a state of misery, until he succumbed from a hemorrhage, inhalation pneumonia, or general inanition. The administration of cancer chemotherapeutic agents has to some extent altered the picture and has improved both the local disease and general condition of the patient. The patient with incurable carcinoma of the oropharynx and base of the tongue, who responds to these drugs, will lose his pain, trismus, and fetororis, and will note improvement in swallowing. Objectively, the lesion is smaller, cleaner, and less offensive. The