Comparative study demonstrates equivalent vocal function between radiotherapy and focused laser excision in T1 glottic cancer, indicating surgical technique critically influences voice preservation.
BACKGROUND: This study was designed to comparatively assess laryngeal function and quality of life (QOL) of patients after laser surgery (LS) or radiotherapy (RT) for early glottic cancer. METHODS: Sixty-four patients with T1 glottic cancer treated with RT or type II cordectomy underwent both subjective and objective vocal assessments. The LS group was divided into the following: (1) vaporization with defocused mode (laser surgery [LS]-Vap); and (2) excision with focused mode using lower power (LS-Ex). RESULTS: Auditory-perceptual evaluation and videostroboscopic images in the LS-Ex group worsened shortly after treatment and time-dependent recovery was quicker than in the LS-Vap group. The LS-Ex group showed equivalent posttherapeutic vocal function with the RT group by acoustics, aerodynamics, and self-assessment questionnaire analysis, whereas the LS-Vap group showed statistically significant worse function. CONCLUSION: The multidimensional assessment showed that early glottic cancer could be successfully treated by either RT or LS-Ex with equivalent posttherapeutic laryngeal function and QOL.
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Kono et al. (2016) studied this question.
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