Abstract
A clinical study was made of 131 patients with laryngeal cancer treated in our department during 13 years from 1975 to 1987. The mean age of patients was 64.8 years, and the male-female ratio was 20.8:1. There were 87 cases of the glottic type, 42 of the supraglottic, and 2 of the subglottic type. Cases in the early stages (stage I, II) predominated in the glottic type, whereas advanced stage tumors (stage III, IV) were predominant in the supraglottic type (x2-test, p⟨0.01).
Hoarseness was the most frequent complaint in the patients with glottic cancer. The proportion of complaints other than hoarseness, such as sore throat, on the other hand, was significantly higher among patients with supraglottic cancer (x2-test, p⟨0.01). There was no significant correlation between stage and duration of complaints until visits to our department.
The overall five-year survival rate was 73.8%. The five-year survivals for the glottic and supraglottic type were 84.3 and 54.3% respectively, and for stage I through stage IV were 94.6, 73.7, 58.6, and 36.4%, respectively. In patients classified as T1 or T2, the following treatment is recommended as basic policy: radiotherapy as initial treatment and, if unsuccessful, secondary salvage surgery should be performed. In patients classified as T3 or T4, however, total laryngectomy is recommended as initial treatment.
Metastases to cervical lymph nodes were observed in 6 patients with glottic cancer and 14 with supraglottic cancer, and the incidence of cervical lymph node metastases was significantly higher in the supraglottic type (x2-test, p⟨0.01). In patients diagnosed as having cervical lymph node metastases during the pre-treatment examination, neck dissection should be performed as a part of initial treatment.
