Abstract
Sixty-nine patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the hypopharynx treated at the department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of Ryukyu Faculty of Medicine from 1977 to 1987 were reviewed. The following results were obtained.
1. Of the 69 patients, 66 were male and 3 were female. The primary lesion was located in the pyriform sinus in 55 patients, on the posterior wall in 11 patients, and on the postcricoid in 3 patients.
2. Thirty-one patients were treated with a combination of radiation and chemotherapy. Of 18 patients who were operated, 8 were given radiation, 2 were given chemotherapy, 2 were given radiation and chemotherapy, and 6 underwent surgery only. Eighteen cases were treated with radiation alone, and 2 cases were treated with chemotherapy alone.
3. Metastasis was observed in 11 of those 69 patients (lung 6, bone 2, skin 1, others 2).
4. Other primary carcinoma had occurred in 7 cases (esophagus 4, stomach 2, lung 1).
5. The five-year survival rate according to TNM classification (UICC 1978) was 44% in srages I+II (N=16), 25% in stage III(N=17) and 16% in stage IV (N=31).
