Screening for laryngeal cancer

Screening aims to find cancer early. No national screening is available for laryngeal cancer in the UK. This is because there isn’t a test that can pick up laryngeal cancer at an early stage.

What is cancer screening?

Screening means testing people for early stages of a disease. This is before they have any symptoms. For screening to be useful the tests:

• need to be reliable at picking up cancers
• overall must do more good than harm to people taking part
• must be something that people are willing to do

Screening tests are not perfect and have some risks. The screening programme should also be good value for money for the NHS.

Why there isn’t a screening programme for laryngeal cancer in the UK

There is no national screening programme because:

• this condition is relatively uncommon, so many people would have unnecessary tests

• the benefits don't outweigh the costs

Speak to your GP if you are worried about your risk of laryngeal cancer.

If you have symptoms of laryngeal cancer

Do see your GP if you have symptoms you think could be caused by laryngeal cancer. They will refer you to a specialist urgently if they think there is any chance your symptoms could be caused by cancer.