End Results of Radiation Therapy of Laryngeal Cancer

Abstract

A total of 1284 new patients with laryngeal cancer were registered at the Radiotherapy Clinic in 1936—1959. 949 patients have been followed up for at least 10 years. 869 of them were treated, 653 with X-rays and 216 with surgery and postoperative X-ray therapy. The material was analysed according to the usual clinical staging, the TNM system and the topographical localisation of the tumour. The 5-year result was 38.5 per cent for the total material, the 10-year result was 23 per cent. In early cases, radiotherapy gave equally good results as combined surgical-radiologic treatment. Radiation therapy, in addition, preserves the patient's voice. Combined therapy gave a more reliable result in more advanced cases. The material shows clearly that the results of radiotherapy have improved in the course of 20 years. The proportion of earlier stages has grown year by year and patients now seek therapy in an earlier stage than they did in the 1930s and 1940s.