Abstract
This study compares clinical characteristics and survival between patients with and without laryngeal function (LF) preservation during surgical treatment for hypopharyngeal carcinoma. We retrospectively reviewed 485 cases of hypopharyngeal carcinoma treated at a single institution for analysis. There were 337 cases with and 148 cases without LF preservation after surgery. Preservation of LF was complete in 237 patients and partial in 100 patients. There were significant statistical differences between the preservation group and the group without preservation in T-stage (P < 0.001), overall staging (P < 0.001), and tumor sites (P < 0.001) except the N-stage (P = 0.240). The patients with LF preservation had significantly better overall survival (log-rank, P = 0.005) and a lower risk of death than those without LF preservation (HR 0.62, 95 % CI 0.43–0.97), after multivariable adjustment. Treatment with surgery in combination with radiotherapy is still the favorable choice for patients with hypopharyngeal carcinoma. The maximal restoration of pharyngoesophageal continuity and function improves survival for patients whose tumors are excised completely for the preservation of LF and laryngeal and pharyngeal reconstruction.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00405-014-3115-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Hypopharyngeal carcinoma occurs most commonly in the pyriform sinus, followed by the posterior wall of the hypopharynx; it occurs less commonly in the postcricoid region
We retrospectively reviewed the clinical files of patients with hypopharyngeal carcinoma who were treated at our institution from January 1999 to December 2009 and evaluated the clinical characteristics and compared the survival of patients with or without preservation of laryngeal function (LF) after surgical treatment
We identified 485 patients with hypopharyngeal carcinoma, including 445 males and 40 females ranging in age from 26 to 82 years
Summary
Hypopharyngeal carcinoma occurs most commonly in the pyriform sinus, followed by the posterior wall of the hypopharynx; it occurs less commonly in the postcricoid region. Hypopharyngeal carcinoma has the worst prognosis of all neoplasms of the upper respiratory-gastrointestinal tract, with a 5-year survival rate of 30–50 % [1]. This poor prognosis is due to the disease being relatively. Because laryngeal integrity is usually maintained in the treatment of early stage hypopharyngeal carcinoma, the preservation of laryngeal function (LF) is relatively easy. In advanced hypopharyngeal carcinoma, preservation of LF is difficult because the deeper the progression of the tumor into the larynx, the more likely the surgical treatment will include resection of the full thickness of the larynx. We retrospectively reviewed the clinical files of patients with hypopharyngeal carcinoma who were treated at our institution from January 1999 to December 2009 and evaluated the clinical characteristics and compared the survival of patients with or without preservation of LF after surgical treatment
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
