Outcomes of radiotherapy in early stage glottic laryngeal carcinoma: a single center experience

Abstract

Our aim was to determine the treatment outcomes and the prognostic factors affecting local control in early stage glottic carcinoma (ESGC) treated with definitive radiotherapy (RT). Between April 2003 and May 2015, 76 patients with ESGC were treated at Inonu University Hospital. There were 58 patients with T1a, 7 T1b and 11 with T2 tumors. Twenty-two patients were treated with conformal radiotherapy, 31 patients were treated with conventional RT and 23 patients were treated with intensity modulated radiotherapy as initial treatment. During a median follow-up of 51 months (range 6-136), 11 patients had failures. Five year overall survival rates were 73.7% in T1 and 81.8% T2. Local control rate was 85.5% in our patients. Patients who were over 61 years had significantly lower local control (p = 0.042). One patient treatment was interrupted because of grade 3 edema. One patient had grade 3 dermatitis, 2 patients grade 3 mucositis and 4 patients grade 3 edema, respectively. Our results suggest that curative radiotherapy is an effective treatment modality in ESGC without increasing toxicity. Age proved to be the only independent prognostic factor affecting local control after primary radiotherapy according to the results of this study.