Definition

Cancer that forms in tissues of the oropharynx (the middle part of the throat, behind the mouth). The oropharynx includes the soft palate (the back muscular part of the roof of the mouth), the side and back walls of the throat, the tonsils, and the back one-third of the tongue. Most oropharyngeal cancers are squamous cell carcinomas (cancer that begins in the thin, flat cells lining the inside of the oropharynx).