Ex-Brazilian President "Lula" Has Cancerous Tumor In Larynx

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Main Category: Ear, Nose and Throat
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Article Date: 29 Oct 2011 - 16:00 PDT

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Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, ex-President of Brazil, is to receive chemotherapy for a malignant tumor in his larynx during the coming week, according to an official statement issued by the Hospital Sírio-Libanês, Sao Paulo, Brazil. Oncologists identified the tumor yesterday. Doctors added that he will be treated as an outpatient.

According to Artur Katz, an oncologist and part of the team currently in charge of treating the ex-president, Silva's chances of making a full recovery are "Excellent". Katz added that his patient is "in very good condition".

Oncologists at the hospital say they cannot yet be sure what caused the cancer to develop. Lula used to smoke small cigars. Smoking is a risk factor for laryngeal cancer.

According to people close to the ex-president and Brazilian media, Lula had symptoms of pain in his throat and he went to hospital for a check-up. Doctors say he should start his bout of chemotherapy on Monday 31st October.

Brazil's Minister of Finance (Ministro da Fazenda), Guido Mantega in a press briefing this afternoon after visiting Lula in hospital, said that the ex-president was resting with an oxygen mask after undergoing various tests throughout the day. He said Lula looked fine and felt sure Lula would overcome his present difficulty because "He is a fighter".

Guido Mantega said:

"It is a curable condition which was caught during its initial stages. This is an advantage. He is a fighter and has overcome minor problems like this. (É um problema que tem cura e foi pego no início. Esta é uma vantagem. Ele é um lutador e já superou problemas menores (sic) do que este.)


Lula is said to be recovering well from a biopsy which, according to Mantega, has left him hoarse. The Minister added that nobody really noticed because Lula always had a rather distinctive voice anyway. Mantega said that Lula had been intubated (tube down his airway).

José Guilherme Vartasian, a respected oncologist in Brazil, said in an interview with R7 Noticias, a Brazilian news journal, that Lula's laryngeal cancer is likely to be at an intermediate stage one with a 60% chance of a total cure. Vartasian, who is not part of Lula's current medical team, but a specialist in this type of cancer, says chemotherapy is not usually administered for early-stage cancer of the larynx. He added that a surgical intervention could lead to breathing and vocal cord problems for patients with intermediate-stage cancer of the larynx. For early laryngeal cancer, the patient would usually undergo surgery and radiotherapy. However, as he has just been diagnosed, it is stll possible that he has early-stage cancer, Vartasian added.

Vartasian believes that Lula's chemotherapy will go on for perhaps another two months. However, he added "medicine is not an exact science."

Laryngeal Cancer (Cancer Of The Larynx)

Cancer of the larynx, also known as laryngeal cancer, is when cancer cells grow in the larynx. The larynx is also known as the "voice box". It lies just below the pharynx in the neck. The pharynx is a tube about five inches long that spans the back of the nose down to the neck where it connects to the trachea.

Illu conducting passages
The larynx is between the pharynx and the esophagus


The larynx has three main parts:
  • The glottis - the vocal cords are here. The glottis is in the middle part of the larynx.
  • The supraglottis - tissue above the glottis
  • The subglottis - tissue below the glottis. This part connects to the trachea, where air is inhaled into the lungs
Laryngeal cancer can develop in any part of the larynx. In most cases it starts off in the glottis. Nearly all cancers of the larynx start of in the squamous cells (they line the inner walls of the larynx).

Laryngeal cancer can spread to nearby lymph nodes in the neck, other parts of the neck and throat, and eventually to other parts of the body if left untreated. Any tumor that develops in other parts of the body that originated from the larynx will have the same type of abnormal cells as the first tumor that appeared in the larynx.

In the USA approximately 7,700 males and 1,810 females are diagnosed with laryngeal cancer each year. Annually, about 3,740 men and women die from the disease in America. In the vast majority of cases, throat cancer develops after the patient is 50 years old - Lula is 66. An adult males is about five times more likely to develop cancer of the larynx than a woman, according to the National Institutes of Health, USA.

Signs and symptoms - a patient with cancer of the larynx may develop the following signs and symptoms:
  • A hoarse voice
  • There may be a sensation of a lump in the throat
  • Sore throat
  • Swallowing difficulties
  • Pain when swallowing
  • Breathing may be noisy
  • Persistent earache
  • Some individuals may have breathing difficulties
  • Some patients may choke on their food
  • Unexpected weight loss
  • An unusual sensation of fullness in the ear
  • An unusual sensation in the skin around the ear
  • Halitosis (bad breath)
Risk factors for cancer of the larynx - a risk factor is something that raises the probability of eventually developing a disease or condition. For example, obesity is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes. The following are known risk factors linked to cancer of the larynx:
  • Smoking - this is by far the most important risk factor. A regular heavy smoker's risk of developing laryngeal cancer is twenty times greater than a lifetime non-smoker.
  • Alcohol - regular, long-term heavy consumption of alcohol significantly raises the risk. A chronic heavy drinker who is also a long-term regular smoker has a very high risk, compared to other people.
  • Having a history of neck cancer
  • Certain occupations - workers who are exposed to nickel or sulfuric acid mist have a higher risk, as do those working with asbestos. Individuals working with asbestos should be fully trained on the safety rules to avoid inhaling asbestos fibers - the employer must ensure adherence to these rules.
    • The following risk factors are likely to be linked to alcohol/tobacco consumption, experts say:

  • Being male
  • Being of low socioeconomic status
Treatment - in most cases, early laryngeal cancer patients will receive radiation alone or surgery plus radiation (radiotherapy), plus some other appropriate therapies. In more advanced cases, patients may also receive chemotherapy. However, this varies enormously, depending on the oncologist's approach and the individual characteristics of the patients.

Outlook (prognosis) - if detected early, laryngeal cancer can be cured in 90% of cases. If the cancer has reached the lymph nodes in the neck or surrounding tissues the patient is expected to have a 50% to 60% chance of a complete cure, according to The National Institutes of Health (NIH), USA. If the cancer has metastasized - spread to other parts of the body - the cancer is incurable, however, there is treatment to prolong the patient's life and improve his/her QoL (quality of life).

Some patients may need therapy to help them with their speech and swallowing. According to the NIH, about 1 in every 20 patients will need to be fed through a feeding tube because they are not able to swallow properly.

Brazil's current president, Dilma Vana Rousseff, underwent surgical intervention to remove a malignant tumor from her left armpit at the same hospital in 2009. This was followed by chemotherapy. In August 2010 she was given a clean bill of health.


Lula - foto oficial05012007 edit
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Lula)

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Lula)

  • Born - 27th October, 1945.
  • Place of birth - Caetés, Pernambuco, Brazil.
  • Parents - Aristides Inácio da Silva and Eurídice Ferreira de Melo.
  • He had seven brothers and sisters (he was his parents' seventh child)
  • Moved to São Paulo, Brazil's largest city, with his mother when He was 7 years old. His mother had been separated from her husband and had gone to Sao Paulo to rejoin him. On arriving there she discovered that her husband had formed a second family. The two families lived together in the same home. Four years later his mother left with her children and moved to a small room in another part of the city. His father became an alcoholic and died in 1978. According to Brazilian media, he rarely saw his father after he and his mother moved out.
  • Lula married Maria de Lourdes in 1969 - she died two years later of hepatitis while pregnant with their first son (the child did not survive). Lula had a daughter with Miram Cordeiro (they were not married) in 1974. Lula married his current wife, Marisa, in 1974. Lula had three children with Marisa and adopted her son from her first marriage. Marisa's first marriage ended when her husband died.
  • He did not learn to read until he was ten years old. At fourth grade he left school and looked for work to help out his family. He started off at the age of 12 as a shoeshine boy and street vendor. At 14 he got his first 'proper' job as a lathe operator in a copper processing factory.
  • When he was 19, while working as a press operator in a car parts factory he lost his little finger in an industrial accident. He ran from hospital to hospital trying to get medical attention, before finally succeeding. This experience helped focus his mind on the plight of poor Brazilians. At this point he became interested in the Workers' Unions.
  • He became involved in union activities and rose rapidly. Clashes between the then military government and trades unions most likely pushed him further into the political left, according to several Brazilian media sources.
  • In 1975 he became president of the Steel Workers' Union of São Bernardo do Campo and Diadema. Most of Brazil's automotive industry was located in these two cities (São Bernardo do Campo and Diadema). The military government at that time clashed regularly with the unions. Lula was jailed for a month after a court ruled that strikes were illegal.
  • 10th February 1980 - Lula, some academics, union leaders and intellectuals founded the Worker's Party (Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT), a left-wing, progressive party. This occurred while the military government was still in power.
  • 1986 - Lula won a seat in Congress
  • 1 January 2003 - 31 December 2010 - Lula was President of Brazil
Written by Christian Nordqvist
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

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Sources: Globo, Terra Networks Brasil, R7 Noticias other local Brazilian media, BBC, Medical News Today archives
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