Role of postoperative adjuvant radiotherapy for locally advanced laryngeal cancer: a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Studies have shown mixed results on the role of postoperative adjuvant radiotherapy (PORT) in surgically managed locally advanced laryngeal cancer.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to review and investigate the role of PORT in patients with locally advanced laryngeal cancer using meta-analysis.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Relevant studies were searched using PubMed and eligible information has been extracted. Then, meta-analysis of hazard ratio (HR) was performed to evaluate the role of PORT in locally advanced laryngeal cancer.

RESULTS: This meta-analysis included 7 published studies containing 2007 patients. For overall survival (OS), patients of locally advanced laryngeal cancer who were treated with PORT have a combined hazard ratio (HR) of 0.67 with 95%CI (0.56, 0.79), compared to those who were not treated with PORT, which was significantly associated with better survival. PORT was also associated with a better disease-free survival (DFS) and local control rate (LCR) in patients with locally advanced laryngeal cancer. The pooled HR and 95%CI for DFS and LCR were 0.72 (0.53, 0.99) and 0.29 (0.09, 0.99), respectively.

CONCLUSIONS AND SIGNIFICANCE: This study suggested that PORT could improve the survival of patients with surgically managed locally advanced laryngeal cancer.