Tumor Sterilization With Preoperative Radiation In Laryngeal Cancer

If there were a method of predicting which larynges have been cured by radiotherapy, unnecessary surgery and loss of function might be avoided. In a large series of patients with advanced cancer of the larynx treated by high-dose preoperative radiotherapy, the apparent sterilization of the primary tumor and metastatic lymph nodes was studied. The results are compared with results from other large series. The present study indicates that at least 40% of patients would avoid laryngectomy. Further, clinical response following radiotherapy gives an excellent indication of which patients would be cured by radiotherapy. The delay of surgery in those cases that developed recurrence did not result in a high complication rate. This policy—radiotherapy with surgery for salvage of recurrences—has achieved a control rate comparable to that achieved by high-dose preoperative radiotherapy and surgery.