Adult laryngeal rhabdomyosarcoma: is aggressive treatment justified in all cases? A case report and review of the literature.
BACKGROUND
Adult laryngeal rhabdomyosarcomas are rare tumours commonly treated by laryngectomy.


METHODS
We present a case of subglottic laryngeal rhabdomyosarcoma in an elderly woman, treated by endoscopic resection.


CONCLUSIONS
Despite the fact that this tumour is traditionally treated aggressively, this approach is not supported by the literature. Due to the varying biological behaviour of this tumour in adults, we believe that conservative surgical procedures or combination therapies should be preferred, rather than total laryngectomy.
Papacharalampous
G X
GX
First Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Hippokrateion Hospital, Athens, Greece.
Manolopoulos
L
L
Korres
S
S
Dicoglou
C
C
Bibas
A
A
D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007822:Laryngeal Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D007825:Laryngectomy / Q000379:methods; D007828:Laryngoscopy / Q000379:methods; D008866:Microsurgery / Q000379:methods*; D012208:Rhabdomyosarcoma / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D016896:Treatment Outcome