Clinical analysis of cases with hypopharyngeal carcinoma who underwent pharyngolaryngectomy and pharyngolaryngoesophagectomy

Thirty-seven cases with hypopharyngeal carcinoma who underwent pharyngolaryngectomy and pharyngolaryngoesophagectomy in our department between 1991 and 2008 were clinically analyzed. The cases were equivalent to 31.4% of all hypopharyngeal cases. The ages of the cases ranged from 39 to 83 years old (mean: 65), and the ratio of males was 94.6%. The histopathology of all the cases was squamous cell carcinoma, and the most common clinical stage was stage VIA (67.6%) followed by stage III, stage II, and stage VIB. Regarding surgical procedures, 62.2% of the cases underwent pharyngolaryngectomy and 37.8% pharyngolaryngoesophagectomy. Postoperative radiotherapy was used in 62.2% of cases, and chemotherapy in 40.5%. Recurrence was observed in 37.8%, and the disease-specific 5-year survival rate was 58.5%. Since the prognosis of postoperative radiotherapy cases who were histopathologically high-risk was not significantly different from those of non-radiotherapy cases, postoperative radiotherapy was considered to be useful for these patients. Chemotherapy cases had significantly lower local recurrence rate and better prognosis, suggesting the effectiveness of multidisciplinary treatment including chemotherapy in the treatment of hypopharyngeal carcinoma. (author)