Although the treatment plan for laryngeal and hypopharyngeal cancers is already well established, the prognosis for hypopharyngeal cancer is still poor. Our purpose in the present report is to provide some hints for the improvement of the prognosis for these diseases.
In our department, from March 1986 to August 1994, 62 patients with laryngeal cancer and 21 with hypopharyngeal cancer underwent initial treatment. In the 62 patients with laryngeal cancer, recurrence was observed in 13 cases; and in the 21 with hypopharyngeal cancer, recurrence was observed in 7 cases.
Five patients who had a recurrence in the larynx were saved with a second radical operation. On the other hand, distant metastasis was observed in 4 cases, and these patients died from their metastasis.
In the 7 patients with a recurrensce of hypopharyngeal cancer, 3 cases were observed in the primary region, 2 were in the cervical region, and 2 were in distant organs.
In the department, laryngeal cancer is first treated with radiotherapy to preserve the voice, and hypopharyngeal cancer is first treated with a radical operation including preoperative chemotherapy and postoperative radiotherapy for improvement of the prognosis.
