Comparison of voice characteristics following three different methods of treatment for laryngeal cancer.
BACKGROUND
Laryngeal cancer treatment has become more complex and diversified in past decades. Many different methods of treatment have evolved, and most have been able to restore the patient's function and maintain some form of functional speech. This study was designed to evaluate the voice and speech characteristics of patients who have undergone different treatments for laryngeal cancer and to compare those characteristics with those of age- and sex-matched normal laryngeal speakers.


METHODS
Twenty-two male subjects participated in the study. Five men were treated with radiation therapy, 6 men had supracricoid partial laryngectomy, 6 men had undergone total laryngectomy with tracheoesophageal puncture, and 5 men were normal laryngeal speakers. Acoustic, aeromechanical, and perceptual assessments of speech were collected.


RESULTS
Significant age effects were found for maximum phonation times. As age increased, maximum phonation time decreased (p < .005). Significant differences were found between groups for the following dependent variables: percentage of voiceless phonation, maximum phonation time, laryngeal airway resistance, subglottal pressure, oral flow, and word intelligibility. Trends in the data for differences between groups were noted for the following acoustic variables: noise-to-harmonics ratio, jitter, and shimmer.


CONCLUSIONS
All patients developed or maintained a source of voicing after treatment and could use speech functionally, as demonstrated by normal sentence intelligibility. The radiation treatment group had voices that differed the least from the control group, whereas the opposite was true for the surgical groups, especially for those with total laryngectomy.
Eksteen
Eddie C
EC
Division of Otolaryngology--Head and Neck Surgery, University of Alberta, Edmonton.
Rieger
Jana
J
Nesbitt
Margaret
M
Seikaly
Hadi
H
D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004947:Esophagus / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D007822:Laryngeal Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000601:surgery*; D007825:Laryngectomy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D013068:Speech Production Measurement; D013071:Speech, Alaryngeal / Q000379:methods; D014132:Trachea / Q000601:surgery; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014831:Voice; D014833:Voice Quality