Has anyone ever heard of leukoplakia?Know anybody who has had it, or throat cancer?If so, what were symptoms?

Answer 1

Leukoplakia is a condition in which thickened, white patches form on your gums, on the inside of your cheeks and sometimes on your tongue. These patches can't easily be scraped off.

f leukoplakia is unknown, but it's considered to result from chronic irritation. Tobacco, either smoked or chewed, is the main culprit, but irritation can also come from other sources, such as long-term alcohol use.

Leukoplakia is the most common of all chronic mouth lesions. Although anyone can develop leukoplakia, it's most common in older men. People with compromised immune systems sometimes develop an unusual form of the disorder called hairy leukoplakia.

In general, leukoplakia isn't painful, but the patches may be sensitive when you touch them or eat spicy foods. Although the disorder usually isn't dangerous, it can be serious. A small percentage of leukoplakic patches show early signs of cancer, and many cancers of the mouth occur next to areas of leukoplakia. For that reason, it's best to see your dentist if you have unusual changes in your mouth lasting longer than a week.

Leukoplakia can have various appearances, but typically first appears as flat, gray or gray-white sores (plaques) — usually on your gums or on the insides of your gums or on the insides of your cheeks and sometimes on your tongue. Over weeks or months, leukoplakia can develop into patches with the following characteristics:

White color
Thick, rough or wrinkled texture
Hardened surface
Sometimes you may also have raised red lesions (erythroplakia), which are more likely to show precancerous changes

The cause of leukoplakia is unknown. Many possible causes have been linked to leukoplakia, including tobacco, long-term alcohol use and other chronic irritants. Though mechanical irritants, such as rough fillings or dentures, were once felt to be a cause of leukoplakia, they're no longer believed to lead to this condition.

Answer 2

My husband is currently under going treatment for throat cancer. He was misdiagnosed for over a year. The sad thing about throat cancer is it mimics other conditions such as strep throat. The symptoms he had were sore throat, hoarseness and coughing up blood. I took him to another doctor who took it more seriously. They put a small camera down his throat and didn't get very far when the tumor appeared on the screen. He then went for a biopsy and ct scan. John lost his voice box, lymph nodes on both sides and part of a artery in his throat. He had 6 rounds of chemo and 30 days of radiation. Next month we go to see a doctor to find out if he is candidate for either an artificial voice box put in or one remade from his own body tissues. Please if you think you have it DO NOT hesitate to push for more test!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We wished we hadn't trusted the first doctor so much. If you smoke stop! If you drink alcohol beverages stop this to. It can aide in the growth of the cancer. Good Luck and God's Blessing for you.

Answer 3

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leukoplakia