Cancer Health Center
Laryngeal Cancer Treatment - Treatment Options by Stage
A link to a list of current clinical trials is included for each treatment section. For some types or stages of cancer, there may not be any trials listed. Check with your doctor for clinical trials that are not listed here but may be right for you.
Stage I Laryngeal Cancer
Treatment of stage I laryngeal cancer depends on where cancer is found in the larynx.
If cancer is in the supraglottis, treatment may include the following:
- Radiation therapy.
- Supraglottic laryngectomy.
If cancer is in the glottis, treatment may include the following:
- Radiation therapy.
- Cordectomy.
- Partial laryngectomy, hemilaryngectomy, or total laryngectomy.
- Laser surgery.
If cancer is in the subglottis, treatment may include the following:
- Radiation therapy with or without surgery.
- Surgery alone.
Check for U.S. clinical trials from NCI's PDQ Cancer Clinical Trials Registry that are now accepting patients with stage I laryngeal cancer. For more specific results, refine the search by using other search features, such as the location of the trial, the type of treatment, or the name of the drug. General information about clinical trials is available from the NCI Web site.
Stage II Laryngeal Cancer
Treatment of stage II laryngeal cancer depends on where cancer is found in the larynx.
If cancer is in the supraglottis, treatment may include the following:
- Radiation therapy.
- Supraglottic laryngectomy or total laryngectomy with or without radiation therapy.
- A clinical trial of radiation therapy.
- A clinical trial of chemoprevention.
If cancer is in the glottis, treatment may include the following:
- Radiation therapy.
- Partial laryngectomy, hemilaryngectomy, or total laryngectomy.
- Laser surgery.
- A clinical trial of radiation therapy.
- A clinical trial of chemoprevention.
If cancer is in the subglottis, treatment may include the following:
- Radiation therapy with or without surgery.
- Surgery alone.
- A clinical trial of radiation therapy.
- A clinical trial of chemoprevention.
Check for U.S. clinical trials from NCI's PDQ Cancer Clinical Trials Registry that are now accepting patients with stage II laryngeal cancer. For more specific results, refine the search by using other search features, such as the location of the trial, the type of treatment, or the name of the drug. General information about clinical trials is available from the NCI Web site.
Stage III Laryngeal Cancer
Treatment of stage III laryngeal cancer depends on where cancer is found in the larynx.
If cancer is in the supraglottis or glottis, treatment may include the following:
- Surgery with or without radiation therapy.
- Radiation therapy with or without surgery.
- A clinical trial of radiation therapy.
- A clinical trial of chemotherapy combined with radiation therapy, with or without laryngectomy.
- A clinical trial of radiosensitizers.
- A clinical trial of chemoprevention.
If cancer is in the subglottis, treatment may include the following:
- Laryngectomy plus total thyroidectomy and removal of lymph nodes in the throat, usually followed by radiation therapy.
- Radiation therapy with or without surgery.
- A clinical trial of radiation therapy.
- A clinical trial of chemotherapy.
- A clinical trial of radiosensitizers.
- A clinical trial of chemoprevention.
WebMD Public Information from the National Cancer Institute
This information is produced and provided by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). The information in this topic may have changed since it was written. For the most current information, contact the National Cancer Institute via the Internet web site at http://cancer.gov or call 1-800-4-CANCER
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