Radiation therapy for stage II glottic carcinoma. Comparison with surgery

One hundred thirty-four patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the T2N0M0 glottic carcinoma treated at this institute from 1979 through 1991 were reviewed. The 5-year disease-free survival and laryngeal preservation rate and prognostic factors were examined. Treatment was radiation therapy (RT) with salvage surgery of failure or surgery alone. The 5-year disease-specific survival (DSS) rate for the RT group was 100% and for the surgery group, 93% (p=0.055). Concerning laryngeal preservation the RT group showed better preservation rate than the surgery group in the subgroup of cord mobility, i.e., 41/51 (80%) versus 6/55 (11%) (p<0.001) although significant difference was not observed in the lesion with impaired cord mobility, 2/5 versus 4/22 (p=0.171). We recommend radiation therapy for Stage II glottic carcinoma with normal cord mobility, although further study is needed to improve the preservation rate of the larynx while maintaining the disease-specific survival rate for the lesion with impaired cord mobility. (author)