Objective: To detect the distribution and characteristics of lymph nodes metastasis in patients of laryngeal and hypopharyngeal cancer.
Method: A retrospective review of 129 patients who had radical neck dissection, including first recurrence in cervical lymph nodes after laryngectomy, was performed to analyze the cervical lymph node metastases of different types of laryngeal and hypopharyngeal cancer treated by total laryngectomy.
Result: The patients of the hypopharyngeal and supraglottic cancer had a tendency of cervical lymph nodes metastasis in their early stage. The rate of the fusional lymph nodes was high in hypopharyngeal cancer, and so as to the rate of the positive lymph nodes in their level IV. In our study the percentage of the poor-differentiated squamous cell carcinoma was relatively high in hypopharyngeal and supraglottic cancer than in glottic cancer. And there was no statistical difference in stages of the primary tumour between groups of neck dissection with laryngectomy simultaneously and of first recurrence in lymph nodes after laryngectomy.
Conclusion: The latent lymph nodes metastasis and preventive neck dissection should be considered in patients of hypopharyngeal and supraglottic cancer in or above stages of T2, especially in patients with poor-differentiated squamous cell carcinoma, though the sign of positive lymph nodes was not evident.