{"entity":{"id":"head-neck-subsites","kind":"term","name":"Head and neck subsites (oral cavity, oropharynx, larynx)","aka":["oral cavity","oropharynx","oropharyngeal","hypopharynx","nasopharynx","nasopharyngeal","larynx","laryngeal","larynx preservation","salivary gland","salivary glands"],"tldr":"Head and neck cancer is really several cancers named by exact location: mouth (oral cavity), back of the throat (oropharynx, where HPV cancers arise), voice box (larynx), lower throat (hypopharynx) and behind the nose (nasopharynx). Each behaves and is treated differently.","summary":"Oral cavity cancers are treated surgically first. Oropharyngeal cancers, now mostly HPV-driven, respond so well to chemoradiation that de-escalation trials are under way; laryngeal cancer is often treated with radiotherapy to preserve the voice, with laryngectomy for salvage; nasopharyngeal carcinoma, EBV-driven and concentrated in southern China, gets IMRT plus platinum and is monitored by plasma EBV DNA. Subsite determines staging (AJCC 8 gives HPV-positive oropharynx its own system), surgical access and functional consequences for speech and swallowing.","asOf":"2026-09-09","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head_and_neck_cancer","links":[{"label":"Wikipedia","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head_and_neck_cancer"}],"tags":[],"related":["hpv-status","ebv-term","chemoradiation","plasma-ebv-dna"],"cancers":["head-and-neck"],"sections":["surgery","radiation"],"technologies":[],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"category":"Anatomy"},"route":"/terms/head-neck-subsites/","neighbours":{"term":[{"id":"chemoradiation","kind":"term","name":"Chemoradiation (chemoradiotherapy, CRT)","route":"/terms/chemoradiation/"},{"id":"ebv-term","kind":"term","name":"Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in cancer","route":"/terms/ebv-term/"},{"id":"hpv-status","kind":"term","name":"HPV status (HPV-positive / HPV-negative)","route":"/terms/hpv-status/"},{"id":"plasma-ebv-dna","kind":"term","name":"Plasma EBV DNA","route":"/terms/plasma-ebv-dna/"}],"cancer":[{"id":"esthesioneuroblastoma","kind":"cancer","name":"Esthesioneuroblastoma (olfactory neuroblastoma)","route":"/cancers/esthesioneuroblastoma/"},{"id":"head-and-neck","kind":"cancer","name":"Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma","route":"/cancers/head-and-neck/"},{"id":"locoregionally-advanced-nasopharyngeal-carcinoma","kind":"cancer","name":"Locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (stage III to IVA)","route":"/cancers/locoregionally-advanced-nasopharyngeal-carcinoma/"},{"id":"sinonasal","kind":"cancer","name":"Nasal cavity and paranasal sinus cancers (including esthesioneuroblastoma)","route":"/cancers/sinonasal/"},{"id":"sinonasal-undifferentiated-carcinoma","kind":"cancer","name":"Sinonasal undifferentiated carcinoma (SNUC) and SWI/SNF-deficient sinonasal carcinoma","route":"/cancers/sinonasal-undifferentiated-carcinoma/"}],"section":[{"id":"radiation","kind":"section","name":"Radiation Therapy","route":"/fronts/radiation/"},{"id":"surgery","kind":"section","name":"Surgery & Interventional","route":"/fronts/surgery/"}]}}