The U.S. government’s Institute of Medicine reported that asbestos, which is accepted as a cause of a number of respiratory ailments including lung cancer, may also be a source for laryngeal cancer. The larynx produces the sound of your voice. Each year in the United States, more than 10,000 people learn they have larynx cancer. Men are four times more likely than women to get cancer of the larynx. Occupational related issues are certainly a factor with mechanics, construction, and other jobs that handle asbestos.

A series of studies have found that certain cancers of the throat and lungs are similar, so the U.S. Senate asked the institute to investigate a potential link between asbestos and other upper-body cancers. Asbestos is also linked to mesothelioma which is a rare cancer that attacks the lining of the chest.

Smokers and smokers that drink alcohol are even more at risk to develop cancer of the larynx. Symptoms of larynx cancer are hoarseness or other voice changes,lump in the neck, a sore throat or feeling that something is stuck in your throat, a cough that does not go away, breathing problems, bad breath, earaches, and weight loss.

Barbara McNair, 72, started out as a nightclub singer and moved into film and TV as more opportunities for black women opened up in the 1960’s. She eventually hosted her own show in 1969 called The Barbara McNair Show.

Her best known film role came as Sidney Poitier’s wife in the classic crime drama They Call Me Mister Tibbs. She played on Broadway, posed in Playboy and was cast along Elvis Presley in his last film, Change of Habit. She also accompanied Bob Hope on a tour of Vietnam.

Barbara died on Sunday after a long battle with cancer, her husband said.

Mike Evans was the actor who played Lionel on All in the Family and The Jeffersons. He died of throat cancer on December 14Th, he was only 57.

Evans also helped create and write for the sitcom Good Times. It was one of the first TV sitcoms that featured a primarily black cast.

His last role was in 2000 episode of Walker, Texas Ranger, he also played in some TV miniseries such as Rich Man, Poor Man and made appearances on the TV series The Streets of San Francisco.

According to a new study, if you prefer having onions and garlic in your daily diet, you might have lower odds of certain types of cancers.

After analyzing eight different studies from Switzerland and Italy, researchers found that adults who have the highest intake of onions or garlic in their diet had the lowest risk in certain types of cancer. Among these the main were colon, ovarian and throat cancer.

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Aerosmith bassist Tom Hamilton will miss the beginning of the band’s upcoming tour as he recovers from throat cancer treatments.

Hamilton, 55, has undergone a “seven-week course of radiation treatment for throat cancer,” the band’s publicist Marcee Rondan said Thursday.

He is at home with his family, she said, but she had no further information about Hamilton’s condition.

David Hull, a longtime friend of the band who played in the Joe Perry Project, will fill in as bassist, she said. Hamilton is scheduled to rejoin the tour in mid-October.

The Route of All Evil Tour is set to launch Sept. 5 in Columbus, Ohio, according to the band’s website. Aerosmith is performing with Motley Crue.

Hamilton has been with the power rock band since it formed in Boston in 1969.

An Aerosmith tour earlier this year was scrapped while Steven Tyler had throat surgery.

Rock singer Kiyoshiro Imawano, 55, whose real name is Kiyoshi Kurihara, has been hospitalized after being diagnosed as having throat cancer, his spokesman announced Thursday.

According to the spokesman, Imawano felt discomfort in his throat in June, and the result of a medical test showed he had throat cancer.

Commenting on his official Web site about his hospitalization, which occurred Wednesday, the rocker said, “Viewing this as another of life’s experiences, I want to try and focus myself on getting treatment.”

He has canceled all his upcoming performances including those at the Fuji Rock Festival at the end of July and the Rising Sun Rock Festival in Ezo in August.