The role of laryngopharyngeal reflux in head and neck cancer patients

Abstract

Objective. Laryngopharyngeal reflux may play a role in the aetiology of squamous cell cancer of the head and neck and contribute to complications in head and neck cancer patients after surgery or during radiotherapy. Patients and methods. To investigate the incidence of laryngopharyngeal and gastrooesophageal reflux in patients with head and neck cancer, ambulatory 24-h double-probe pH monitoring was performed in 24 untreated patients with laryngeal or pharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma. In addition, 10 patients who had been irradiated in the head and neck area were analysed for reflux to study the effect of radiotherapy on reflux. Results. Only four of the 24 head and neck cancer patients (17%) had neither pathological laryngopharyngeal nor gastro-oesophageal reflux. Oesophageal acid exposure was abnormal in five patients and acid exposure at the level of the upper oesophageal sphincter was abnormal in four patients. Eleven patients had pathological reflux in both areas. Irradiated patients did not differ from the untreated patients considering the incidence of pathological laryngopharyngeal or gastrooesophageal reflux. Conclusion. The data obtained in this study indicate that reflux is a common event in head and neck cancer patients.