Cancer Health Center
Laryngeal Cancer Treatment - Treatment Option Overview
Note: Some citations in the text of this section are followed by a level of evidence. The PDQ editorial boards use a formal ranking system to help the reader judge the strength of evidence linked to the reported results of a therapeutic strategy. (Refer to the PDQ summary on Levels of Evidence for more information.)
Small superficial cancers without laryngeal fixation or lymph node involvement are successfully treated by radiation therapy or surgery alone, including laser excision surgery. Radiation therapy may be selected to preserve the voice and to reserve surgery for salvaging failures. The radiation field and dose are determined by the location and size of the primary tumor. A variety of curative surgical procedures are also recommended for laryngeal cancers, some of which preserve vocal function. An appropriate surgical procedure must be considered for each patient, given the anatomic problem, performance status, and clinical expertise of the treatment team. Advanced laryngeal cancers are often treated by combining radiation and surgery.[1,2,3,4] A review of published clinical results of radical radiation therapy for head and neck cancer suggests a significant loss of local control when the administration of radiation therapy was prolonged; therefore, lengthening of standard treatment schedules should be avoided whenever possible.[5,6] Because the cure rate for advanced lesions is low, clinical trials exploring chemotherapy, hyperfractionated radiation therapy,[7] radiation sensitizers, or particle-beam radiation therapy should be considered.[8,9] Although cure rates are not changed with chemoradiation administered in a neoadjuvant setting, organ preservation is increased.[10]
A multi-institutional trial randomized patients to induction cisplatin plus fluorouracil (5-FU) followed by radiation therapy, radiation therapy administered concurrently with cisplatin, or radiation therapy alone.[10] Concurrent radiation therapy plus cisplatin resulted in a statistically significantly higher percentage of patients with an intact larynx at 2 years (i.e., 88% vs. 75% and 70% for concurrent chemotherapy, induction chemotherapy, and radiation alone, respectively) and higher locoregional control (i.e., 78% vs. 61% and 56%, respectively) than the other two regimens. Both chemotherapy regimens had a lower incidence of distant metastases and better relapse-free survivals than radiation therapy alone, but they also had a higher rate of high-grade toxic effects. Overall survival rates were not significantly different between the different groups.[10][Level of evidence: 1iiC]
The risk of lymph node metastases in patients with stage I glottic cancer ranges from 0% to 2%, and for more advanced disease, such as stage II and stage III glottic, the incidence is only 10% and 15%, respectively. Thus, there is no need to treat glottic cancer cervical lymph nodes electively in patients with stage I tumors and small stage II tumors. Consideration should be given to using elective neck radiation for larger or supraglottic tumors.[11]
WebMD Public Information from the National Cancer Institute
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Laryngeal Cancer Treatment Topics
Microscopic particles called “nanoshells” are injected into cancer patients’ bloodstream to help doctors track and destroy tumors.
