Greed is Good? Cigars and Throat Cancer
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Michael Douglas has revealed that he has been diagnosed with stage 4 throat cancer. He confesses that for most of his adult life he has been a smoker and drinker, two behaviors that have been linked to increased oral cancer risk. This is a very serious diagnosis and not surprisingly his physicians are treating him aggressively with radiation and chemotherapy.
According to the American Cancer Society close to 38,000 Americans will be diagnosed with oral or pharyngeal cancer this year. It causes over 8,000 deaths annually in the US. The death rate for oropharyngeal cancer is so high partly due to the difficulty in early detection. It can be painless and go unnoticed with few physical changes until the disease is quite advanced.
Cigar smoking has a long history of being associated with wealth and achievement (think of Mr. Douglas’ character of Gordon Gekko in his movie Wall Street). But cigars might also be known for being more toxic than cigarette smoke. The larger size of most cigars, implies more tobacco and longer smoking time which results in higher exposures to many toxic compounds (including carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, ammonia, cadmium, and other substances).
90% of oral cancer patients use tobacco. Diagnosis increases with the amount and duration of smoking. Cigarette and Cigar smoking can cause cancer of the oral cavity (lip, tongue, mouth and throat), larynx (voice box), esophagus and the lung. Men are more than twice as likely to develop oral cancers. But, this might be more due to lifestyle choices such as drinking and smoking.
George Karl, the head coach for the Denver Nuggets was diagnosed with Squamous cell carcinoma of the tonsil back in February of 2009. He too has been fighting with multiple rounds of radiation and chemotherapy. He was recently seen at the ESPY Awards in July looking 40 pounds thinner.
In Mr. Douglas’ case he reports having suffered a sore throat for a while. “I had a really sore throat….and I actually went through a litany of doctors and tests and they didn’t find anything,” he said on the David Letterman Show. Doctors performed a biopsy and discovered a stage 4 tumor in the back of his throat. His doctors expect him to make a full recovery.
Find out more about Oropharyngeal cancer:
American Cancer Society
1-800-ACS-2345
National Cancer Institute
1-800-4-CANCER
Oral Cancer Foundation
949-646-8000
