Your head and neck surgeon's goal is to remove the cancerous tumor while keeping the throat structures intact and as functional as possible. You may need one or more procedures depending on how far the cancer has spread. Types of surgery for hypopharyngeal cancer may include:

Medicine that you take by mouth, injection, or infusion could be a part of your treatment plan. Your team may use drugs alone or with other therapies, such as surgery and radiation.

Our cancer doctors use a wide range of cancer medications, including:

• Chemotherapy: These medications slow or stop cancer cells from growing. Doctors may use chemoradiation, a combination of chemotherapy and radiation.
• Immunotherapy: Immunotherapy medications help your body's immune system find and destroy cancer cells.
• Targeted therapy: These drugs target and attack specific molecules on cancer cells, which helps slow cancer's growth.

Chemoradiation is a combination of chemotherapy medications and radiation treatments. Chemotherapy drugs can make cancer cells more sensitive to radiation. Taking these medications while receiving radiation can make radiation treatments more effective.

Radiation therapy uses high-energy X-rays or other types of radiation to destroy or shrink cancer cells. Radiation oncologists aim radiation beams directly at tumors, treating them while avoiding damage to nearby healthy tissues.

External radiation (external beam therapy) uses machines outside the body. Types of external radiation therapy for hypopharyngeal cancer include:

• 3D conformal radiation therapy (3D-CRT): Using 3D pictures, radiation oncologists aim radiation beams from different angles to conform treatment to the tumor's size and shape.
• Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT): This therapy lets doctors change the radiation amount from each beam for customized treatment.
• Stereotactic ablative radiation therapy (SABR): Also known as stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT), this treatment delivers intense radiation doses over several days.