Throat cancer refers to cancer that develops in your throat (pharynx) or voice box (larynx).

Your throat is a muscular tube that begins behind your nose and ends in your neck. Throat cancer most often begins in the flat cells that line the inside of your throat.

Your voice box sits just below your throat and also is susceptible to throat cancer. The voice box is made of cartilage and contains the vocal cords that vibrate to make a sound when you talk.

Throat cancer is a general term that applies to cancer that develops in the throat (pharyngeal cancer) or in the voice box (laryngeal cancer).

Though most throat cancers involve the same types of cells, specific terms are used to differentiate the part of the throat where the cancer originated.

• Nasopharyngeal cancer:

begins in the nasopharynx — the part of your throat just behind your nose.

• Oropharyngeal cancer:

begins in the oropharynx — the part of your throat right behind your mouth that includes your tonsils.

• Hypopharyngeal cancer (laryngopharyngeal cancer):

begins in the hypopharynx (laryngopharynx) — the lower part of your throat, just above your esophagus and windpipe.

• Glottic cancer:

begins in the vocal cords.

• Supraglottic cancer:

begins in the upper portion of the voice box and includes cancer that affects the epiglottis, which is a piece of cartilage that blocks food from going into your windpipe.

• Subglottic cancer:

begins in the lower portion of your voice box, below your vocal cords.