Comparative results of surgical and combined modality treatments of advanced (stage IV) recurrent laryngeal cancer (part II)

The study included 102 patients with advanced recurrent laryngeal cancer, who were divided into 2 groups. Group I consisted of 70 patients who underwent surgical treatment, Group II composed of 32 patients who received preoperative radiation therapy at a total dose of 12 Gy in 2 fractions of 6 Gy each administered on the day before surgery and on the day of surgery. The study showed that the intensive preoperative radiotherapy resulted in increase in survival rate due to decrease in the rate of local recurrences and regional metastases. The 3-year survival rate was 41.3 % in Group I patients and 55.2 % in Group II patients. Complications related to postoperative wound healing in Group II patients were not statistically significant and may be explained by the large extent of surgery in these patients.