Voice change after radiotherapy. Some preliminary results.
A one-third octave spectral analysis was performed on two sentences spoken by 5 patients with laryngeal cancer, 5 with head/neck cancer not involving the vocal cords, and 12 normal subjects. Recordings were made prior to and at weekly intervals during radiotherapy as well as at periodic intervals post-treatment. Patients with laryngeal cancer exhibited lower spectral levels than normal throughout radiotherapy as well as several months post-treatment. By one year after treatment, the spectral levels of these patients were largely in the normal range. Patients with head/neck cancer not involving the vocal cords exhibited greater than normal sound pressure levels throughout most of the spectrum. These levels remained high even at one month post-treatment. Irradiation of normal vocal cord tissue also seems to result in higher spectral levels.
D000368:Aged; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D006801:Humans; D007822:Laryngeal Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011312:Pressure; D013016:Sound; D013057:Spectrum Analysis; D014827:Vocal Cords / Q000528:radiation effects*; D014831:Voice / Q000528:radiation effects*