Salvage surgery after radiotherapy for laryngeal cancer: from endoscopic resections to open-neck partial and total laryngectomies.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate our experience in management of radiotherapy failure using endoscopic resection (ER) with carbon dioxide laser, open-neck partial laryngectomy (ONPL), and total laryngectomy.

DESIGN: Retrospective medical record review.

SETTING: Referral university hospital.

PATIENTS: Seventy-one patients with laryngeal cancer previously treated with radiotherapy (69 patients) and chemoradiotherapy (2 patients) underwent salvage surgery.

INTERVENTIONS: The treatment policy encompassed ER for glottic rT1a, rT1b with limited anterior commissure involvement, and rT2 with normal cord mobility carcinoma. All ONPLs were performed for rT1 and rT2 tumors with suboptimal endoscopic exposure, rT2 tumors with impaired cord mobility or transcommissural extension, and rT3 tumors for limited paraglottic space invasion or involvement of the inner portion of the thyroid cartilage. Total laryngectomy was planned in patients who were not suitable for partial laryngectomy owing to poor general condition, for rT3 carcinoma with massive involvement of the paraglottic space, and for rT4a tumors.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Clinical, radiologic, surgical, and pathologic data. Survival curves were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Comparisons between different variables were performed using the log-rank test.

RESULTS: Salvage surgery consisted of ER in 22 patients, ONPL in 15, and total laryngectomy in 34. The pT category after salvage surgery was pT1 in 12 patients, pT2 in 20, pT3 in 20, and pT4a in 19. Five-year disease-specific and disease-free survival and laryngeal preservation for the entire series were 72%, 61%, and 40%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS: Survival rates for the entire series were not different from those previously reported using a more aggressive surgical approach without attempts at organ preservation. The laryngeal preservation rate justifies conservative treatment in the presence of limited recurrent lesions.