Your doctor will ask about your symptoms and whether you smoke, chew tobacco, dip snuff or drink alcoholic beverages. Your doctor may ask about your diet, ethnicity, occupation and history of radiation exposure. Next, your doctor will examine you, paying special attention to your mouth, throat, nose, ears and the lymph nodes in your neck. If a lump or suspicious lymph node is found, your doctor will refer you to a specialist for a biopsy. In a biopsy, a small piece of tissue is removed and examined in a laboratory. Depending on your symptoms and the location of the lump or lymph node, the specialist might be an ear, nose and throat surgeon, an oral maxillofacial surgeon or a general surgeon.

Once cancer has been diagnosed, additional tests will be done to determine how far the cancer has spread.

The main way to evaluate head and neck tumors is a by a procedure called fiberoptic endoscopy. The doctor inserts a flexible fiberoptic tube into the throat to look at areas that might be cancerous. This procedure can be used to examine the upper airways, larynx, lungs and esophagus.

Based upon the part of the head and neck to be evaluated, the tests used may vary:

—      Lips and mouth — X-rays, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the head and chest

—      Throat — Fiberoptic endoscopy to examine the throat and larynx, and possibly the esophagus and lungs; X-rays; CT or MRI scans of the head, neck and chest; angiography of the neck to look at the flow of blood vessels. These tests are important to evaluate whether the cancer has spread or if it has more than one origin.

—      Salivary glands — CT and MRI scans of the head and neck

—      Nasopharynx — Fiberoptic examination to examine the tumor in the nasopharynx; a neurological examination to check for cranial nerve damage in the head and neck; hearing tests; a thorough dental exam; X-rays, CT and MRI scans of the head and neck; blood tests

—      Sinuses and nasal cavity — Fiberoptic endoscopy to examine the tumor within the nasal cavity or sinus, CT or MRI scans of the head

—      Larynx — Fiberoptic endoscopy of the larynx to examine the tumor area and to determine whether the vocal cords are moving normally; X-rays, CT or MRI scans of the head and neck

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