Abstract
In this retrospective study, we report on 16 patients with hypopharyngeal squamous-cell carcinoma who underwent hypopharynx partial excision at the Department of Otolaryngology, Jikei University Hospital, between February 2005 and February 2009. Regarding postoperative staging, two patients were at stage I, four patients at stage II, three patients at stage III, and seven patients at stage IVA. Seven patients had a primary cancer lesion at the piriform sinus (PS), three patients at the posterior wall (PW), one patient at the post-cricoid area (PC), and two patients between PS and PW. We performed hypopharynx partial excision and reconstruction with free flap for all patients to preserve the larynx. No patients had trouble swallowing and phonation postoperatively. But four patients had a relapse in the cervical lymph node and one patient had a relapse in at a primary site. These patients underwent current chemoradiation and two patients died of the recurrence. The cause-specific two-year survival rate by Kaplan-Meier was 84% in all patients and 63% in stage IVA. We undertook hypopharynx partial excision for laryngeal preservation surgery and were able to obtain good results for the patients' post-operative function of swallowing and phonation. Moreover, only one of 16 patients relapsed at the primary site, and the cause-specific two-year survival rate was as high as 84%. Therefore, these results suggest that hypopharynx partial excision is suitable for patients with hypopharyngeal squamous-cell carcinoma as surgery for preservation of the larynx.
