Ellen, I'll try to answer some of your questions.

1. The fiberoptic tube is called a largnoscope or flex scope to check the throat with the micro camera. It may see surface areas that are suspicious for cancer, but only a biopsy can definitely prove cancer. Your doctor would order any other tests, procedures, if necessary, like a laryngoscopes, triple scope, pandendiscopy under anesthesia with direct biopsies taken of any suspicions.

2. A weakened immune system may contribute to a number of illnesses, or medical configiond, relapses, but with smoking, even 5 cigarettex, sounds like a lot to me, causes direct injury to the mucosal lining, elliptical cell changes in the mouth, aerodigestive tract, so I don't know how the immune system would fight that off, unlike HPV-16, a viral infection, which the body usually fights off, and hairy leukoplakia, the immune system plays a part. Maybe it's stretching the connection with a compromised immune system in delaying in repair to the DNA from smoking.

3. The vocal cord nodule can cause hoarseness, other throat problems like throat coughing, clearance, voice changes from the vocal fold, mucous accumilation, neck pain, and should see a speech and swallow therapist as prescribed.

4. The thyroid I'm not as familiar with, but a nodule there can be biopsied by FNAB, find needle aspirational biopsy, which is usually done with ultrasound guidance by a pathologist or some ENT's, which is a 20 minute office procedure, and is highly accurate, if done by an experienced doctor to get a proper sample. If done by pathologist, a sample is looked under the microscope, and cancer may be seen by from that, and is always sent for confirmstion and further pathology. Depends des on the policy, doctor, if they let you know on the spot if it's cancet of not right there.

I hope this helps.