Current role of radiotherapy in the treatment of locally advanced laryngeal carcinomas.
OBJECTIVE
During the past few years, radiotherapy (RT) has been increasingly used in combination with surgery in the treatment of locally advanced laryngeal carcinomas to improve survival rates in patients with more extensive tumors.


METHODS
This is a retrospective study of a large series of stage III and IV laryngeal carcinomas, and postoperative RT was indicated for some of these cases. We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 380 patients with stage III and IV tumors, of which 163 (43%) underwent surgery only and 217 (57%) received surgery and postoperative RT.


RESULTS
The survival rates of patients who underwent surgery and RT were comparable to those of patients who underwent surgery only, but the former group was composed of subjects suffering from negative prognostic factors.


CONCLUSIONS
The indications for combined treatment should be correlated with the prognostic factors to increase the survival rate of patients with stage III and IV laryngeal carcinoma.
Cortesina
G
G
Department of Clinic Physiopathology, Second ENT Clinic, University of Turin, Italy. cortesin@molinette.unito.it
De Stefani
A
A
Cavalot
A
A
Albera
R
R
Rosso
P
P
Bussi
M
M
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005260:Female; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy; D006801:Humans; D007822:Laryngeal Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy* / Q000601:surgery; D007825:Laryngectomy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D037981:Neck Dissection; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011182:Postoperative Care; D011379:Prognosis; D011879:Radiotherapy Dosage; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013524:Surgical Flaps; D015996:Survival Rate