Partial laryngectomy
If laryngeal cancer is at an early stage, you may have surgery to remove part of the larynx (partial laryngectomy). The surgery may be minimally invasive or open. Your voice may be hoarse or weak afterwards, and may take up to 6 months to recover. In some cases, the changes to the voice may be permanent.
Total laryngectomy
If the cancer has advanced and chemoradiation isn’t an option, you may need open surgery to remove the larynx (total laryngectomy). This operation removes the whole larynx and separates the windpipe (trachea) from the food pipe (oesophagus). After this surgery, you will breathe through a hole in the front of your neck called a laryngectomy stoma. This is a permanent change and you will no longer be able to breathe through your nose and mouth.
Because this surgery removes the voice box, you won’t be able to speak in the same way. These changes can be hard to adjust to. A speech pathologist will teach you new ways to talk and communicate.
Thyroidectomy and hormone replacement
If you have a total laryngectomy, part or all of your thyroid gland may be removed (thyroidectomy). The thyroid produces thyroxine (T4), the hormone that controls your metabolism, energy levels and weight, so you may need to take thyroid hormone replacement tablets every day for the rest of your life. Talk to your doctor about this.
→ READ MORE: Surgery for nasal or paranasal sinus cancer
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A/Prof Martin Batstone, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon and Director of the Maxillofacial Unit, Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, QLD; Polly Baldwin, 13 11 20 Consultant, Cancer Council SA; Martin Boyle, Consumer; Dr Teresa Brown, Assistant Director Dietetics, Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, Honorary Associate Professor, University of Queensland, QLD; Dr Hayley Dixon, Head, Clinical Support Dentistry Department, WSLHD Oral Health Services, Public Health Dentistry Specialist, NSW; Head and Neck Cancer Care Nursing Team, Royal Melbourne Hospital, VIC; Rhys Hughes, Senior Speech Pathologist, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, VIC; Dr Annette Lim, Medical Oncologist and Clinician Researcher – Head and Neck and Non-melanoma Skin Cancer, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, VIC; Dr Sweet Ping Ng, Radiation Oncologist, Austin Health, VIC; Deb Pickersgill, Senior Clinical Exercise Physiologist, Queensland Sports Medicine Centre, QLD; John Spurr, Consumer; Kate Woodhead, Physiotherapist, St Vincent’s Health, Melbourne, VIC; A/Prof Sue-Ching Yeoh, Oral Medicine Specialist, University of Sydney, Sydney Oral Medicine, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Chris O’Brien Lifehouse, NSW.
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