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People Who Died from Throat Cancer

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Throat cancer refers to cancerous tumors that develop in your throat (pharynx), voice box (larynx) or tonsils.

Your throat is a muscular tube that begins behind your nose and ends in your neck. Throat cancer most often begins in the flat cells that line the inside of your throat.

Your voice box sits just below your throat and is also susceptible to throat cancer. The voice box is made of cartilage and contains the vocal cords that vibrate to make sound when you talk.

Throat cancer can also affect the piece of cartilage (epiglottis) that acts as a lid for your windpipe. Tonsil cancer, another form of throat cancer, affects the tonsils, which are located on the back of the throat.

Types of throat cancer

Throat cancer is a general term that applies to cancer that develops in the throat (pharyngeal cancer) or in the voice box (laryngeal cancer). The throat and the voice box are closely connected, with the voice box located just below the throat.

Though most throat cancers involve the same types of cells, specific terms are used to differentiate the part of the throat where cancer originated.

  • Nasopharyngeal cancer begins in the nasopharynx — the part of your throat just behind your nose.
  • Oropharyngeal cancer begins in the oropharynx — the part of your throat right behind your mouth that includes your tonsils.
  • Hypopharyngeal cancer (laryngopharyngeal cancer) begins in the hypopharynx (laryngopharynx) — the lower part of your throat, just above your esophagus and windpipe.
  • Glottic cancer begins in the vocal cords.
  • Supraglottic cancer begins in the upper portion of the larynx and includes cancer that affects the epiglottis, which is a piece of cartilage that blocks food from going into your windpipe.
  • Subglottic cancer begins in the lower portion of your voice box, below your vocal cords.

Risk factors-- Factors that can increase your risk of throat cancer include:

  • Tobacco use, including smoking and chewing tobacco
  • Excessive alcohol use
  • A virus called human papillomavirus (HPV)
  • A diet lacking in fruits and vegetables
  • Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)

The American Cancer Society statistics suggest that about 13,430 new cases of laryngeal cancer will occur in 2016 (10,550 in men and 2,880 in women) with about 3,620 deaths. Five-year survival rates vary somewhat with the location of the cancer and its stage (see below). Most types have a five-year survival rate in stage I and/or II that range from about 53%-64% except for those that occur in the glottis (the part of the larynx including the vocal cords) which is about 74%-90%. Stages III-IV five-year survival varies from about 54%-24%, with stage IV having the lowest five-year survival rate.

Famous People Who Died of Throat Cancer:

  1. Ranker - Famous people who died of throat cancer (99 listed)
  2. International Oral Cancer Association - The Faces of Oral Cancer
  3. American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery -- Famous People Who Have Suffered from Oral, Head, & Neck Cancer
  • Humphrey Bogart - (1899-1957) - Actor
  • Lana Turner (1921-1995) - Actor
  • George Harrison (1943-2001) - Film Score Composer, Record production, Guitarist, Songwriter, Musician
  • Sammy Davis, Jr (1925-1990) - TV producer, Musician, Film Producer, Actor, Singer
  • Graham Chapman (1941-1989) - Comedian, Screenwriter, Physician, Actor, Writer
  • Anthony Quinn (1915-2001) - Painter, Film Producer, Restaurateur, Actor, Professional boxer
  • Michael Crichton (1942-2008) - Television producer, Film Producer, Screenwriter, Author, Film Director
  • Ann Sheridan (1915-1967) - Actor
  • Jean Genet (1910-1986) - Novelist, Screenwriter, Essayist, Writer, Social activist
  • Ed Sullivan (1901-1974) - Screenwriter, Actor, Presenter
  • Aldous Huxley (1894-1963) - novelist, Screenwriter, Author, Writer
  • Robert Oppenheimer (1904-1967) - Physicist, Scientist, Theoretical Physicist
  • Ulysses S Grant (1822-1885) - Politician, Soldier, Military Officer, 18th President
  • Carl Stokes (1927-1996) - Judge, Politician, Newsreader, Lawyer
  • Ann Richards (1933-2006) - Politician, Teacher
  • Robert H Goddard (1882-1945) - Physicist, Professor, Inventor, Scientist, Aerospace Engineer
  • Bob Denver (1935-2005) - Radio personality, Actor
  • Ed Wynn (1886-1966) - Comedian, Radio personality, Actor, Vaudeville Performer, Voice Acting
  • John Gotti (1940-2002) - Mafioso
  • Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) - Composer
  • Roger Miller - (1936-1992) - Musician, Singer-songwriter, Lyricist, Actor, Composer
  • Robert Kardashian - (1944-2003) Businessperson, Lawyer
  • Jack Soo - (1917-1979) - Actor
  • Richard Boone - (1917-1981) - Laborer, TV director, Painter Soldier, Actor
  • Edward VIII of the United Kingdom - (1894-1972)
  • Jimmy Dorsey - (1904-1957) Saxophonist, Musician, Bandleader, Trumpeter, Composer
  • John Everett Millais (1829-1896) - Painter, Artist
  • Frederick III, German Emperor - (1831-1888)
  • Jack Klugman - (1922-2012) - American stage, film, and television actor
  • Babe Ruth (1895-1948) - Baseball player

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