Changes in survival in locally advanced laryngeal carcinoma over past three decades

Laryngeal cancer is the commonest carcinoma of the head and neck region with Squamous-cell carcinomas (SCC) in 90 % of cases (Birchall Met al 2008) The incidence of laryngeal cancer was relatively about 160,000 new cases per year. The disease predominantly affects men; about 2.4% of all cancer cases and 2.1% of all cancer deaths worldwide ,also in United States in 2012 the Es)mated new cases is 12,360 and deaths from laryngeal cancer is 3,650. The majority of patients with SCC of larynx present with locally advanced (LA) disease.(American Cancer Society, 2012) The incidence of laryngeal cancer in the Kasr El-Aini Center of Radiation Oncology and Nuclear Medicine (NEMROCK), Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University from year 2005 - 2008 is 3.1%per year. Advanced laryngeal cancer is generally considered as the disease in stages III and IV based on the primary tumor extension and/or the presence of metastatic lymph node(s) in the neck and it accounts for roughly 40% to 50% of patients with laryngeal cancer (Chen AY, et al 2006). From the second half of the 20th century total laryngectomy combined with a neck dissection was considered a treatment of choice for advanced laryngeal cancer (Genden EM et al, 2007). In most institutions, postoperative radiotherapy as adjuvant treatment following ablative surgery with radiation doses up to 60-66 Gy has also become the standard approach for patients with stage III-IV laryngeal cancer (Corvo R , 2007). However, the treatment of advanced laryngeal cancer seams to be a permanent challenge, but the management of patients with advanced laryngeal cancer has become more complex as other modalities including induction chemotherapy followed by radiotherapy or concurrent chemo-radiotherapy have evolved with the goal of preserving the larynx and reserved total laryngectomy as a salvage procedure for cases with less than 50% response to induction chemotherapy or in those who have persistent disease following concurrent chemo-radiotherapy (Diaz FI et al 2005).