Abstract
A total of 219 patients underwent surgical treatment for thyroid carcinoma in our department between 2008 and 2016; 24 of these patients underwent combined resection of the larynx, trachea, and/or esophagus due to tumor invasion. Thirteen of the 24 cases were examined, excluding undifferentiated carcinoma, CASTLE, and recurrent carcinoma. The tumors invaded the trachea, the trachea and cricoid cartilage, the trachea and esophagus, and the trachea, cricoid and thyroid cartilage in 4, 5, 1, and 3 patients, respectively.
The 3-year survival rate was 72.5％. Five patients relapsed （3 with distant metastases, 1 with a relapse of the contralateral cervical lymph nodes, and 1 with local recurrence）.
The local recurrence was thought to be due to positive surgical margins. Some reports have found no difference in local recurrence between resections with negative surgical margins and those with microscopically positive margins. However, we suggest that sufficient surgical margins are essential for preventing local recurrence after tumor resection for Ex2 cases. Surgical margins must be carefully delineated for intraoperative pathological diagnosis and should take into consideration future QOL, age, past medical and surgical history, swallowing function, and prognosis.
