Objective: To explore the oncologic efficacy of transoral endoscopic CO2 laser surgery in early glottic carcinoma.
Method: Retrospectively study 91 patients with glottic carcinoma (9 Tis, 45 pT1a, 25 pT1b, 12 pT2) treated in our department from October 1999 to August 2004. Surgical treatment included endoscopic CO2 laser cordectomies according to the classification of the European Laryngological Society in 2000.
Result: According to the Kaplan-Meier method, the probability of remaining free of local recurrence 5 years after primary surgery alone was 100.00% for the Tis, 93.33% for the T1a, 84.00% for T1b and 75.00% for the T2 respectively, without statistical significance of various groups by the Log-Rank tests (P > 0.05). The probability of remaining free of local recurrence 5 years after primary surgery alone was 78.57% (6/28) of tumors offended the anterior commissure, versus 93.65% (4/63) with no involvement of anterior commissure, have statistical significance (P < 0.01). The 5 year overall survival and the disease free survival were 92.72% and 84.62% respectively. Perceptive evaluation was performed with the "GRBAS" evaluation system 6 month after laser operation. All patients in the group of type I and type II had an normal voice or mild dysphonia. The patients treated with type III, type IV and type V had a mild or moderate vocal disease.
Conclusion: According to the present series, endoscopic CO2 laser surgery is an effective treatment for early glottic cancer.