I have been talking to doctors (who want to simplify things for patients for years, and not use big words around us assuming we are a bunch of idiots) to quit calling something throat cancer. It certainly isn't a medical term as cancers are either defined/named by the cells they impact or the actual anatomical site itself. Is throat cancer esophageal cancer? That one almost works for me, but why not just call it what it is? Throat cancer (that tube that runs down from your mouth towards your stomach, certainly isn't oropharyngeal cancer, since that is above the pharynx proper. I've heard thyroid cancer called throat cancer, (an endocrine system cancer and definitely not in your throat but in your neck) and laryngeal cancer called throat cancer, and its in your neck and in completely different piece of plumbing that goes to your lungs.... So LISTEN UP Media and Doctor world!!! There is no such thing as throat cancer.

Think this is a small thing? What if someone has a base of tongue, tonsillar or whatever cancer and their docs tell them it is throat cancer. What are they going to do when they go home? Google it..... and they will not find us or good reliable information that can help them. Mayo is perpetuating this nonsense in a site designed for the public. They would never say that at a cancer conference.