title: Radiotherapy for stage I or II hypopharyngeal carcinoma.
abstract: Hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (HPSCC) is usually diagnosed at an advanced stage, and early-stage HPSCC is relatively rare. Because of the rarity of early-stage HPSCC, few reports have been published on the efficacy of radiotherapy (RT) in its treatment. We retrospectively reviewed the clinical records of 45 consecutive patients with Stage I and II HPSCC from May 1991 to June 2010. Patient characteristics were as follows: median age, 66 years (range, 44-90 years); male/female, 39/6; and T1/T2, 27/18. The irradiation dose ranged from 60 to 72 Gy (median: 70 Gy). Of the 45 patients, 21 underwent concurrent chemotherapy. With a median follow-up period of 62 months, the 5-year overall survival rate was 81%. Local failure occurred in 5 patients, and the 5-year local control rate was 83%. All local recurrences were successfully salvaged by surgery. The 5-year functional larynx preservation rate was 92%. Acute toxicity was manageable. Grade 3 laryngeal edema and Grade 3 hypothyroidism occurred in 1 patient each. No other late adverse events of Grade 3 or greater were observed. Based on these results, RT seemed to be an effective treatment modality for early HPSCC, with favorable organ preservation and acceptable adverse events. Early detection and accurate management of local recurrence and second malignancy was deemed to be critical.
authors.affiliation: Division of Radiation Oncology, Department of Radiology, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-2 Kusunoki-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe, Hyogo 650-0017, Japan. westvill@med.kobe-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Hideki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nishimura
authors.forename: Ryohei
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sasaki
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: Daisuke
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Miyawaki
authors.forename: Yoshiaki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Okamoto
authors.forename: Naomi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kiyota
authors.forename: Miki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.forename: Naoki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Otsuki
authors.forename: Ken-ichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nibu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007012:Hypopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000401:mortality* / Q000601:surgery*; D015995:Prevalence; D020266:Radiotherapy, Conformal / Q000401:mortality*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D016019:Survival Analysis; D015996:Survival Rate; D016896:Treatment Outcome