Objectives/hypothesis: To assess the disease control, survival rates, and prognostic factors of exclusive surgical treatment for patients with pT3 N0 laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC).
Study design: Multicentric retrospective cohort study.
Methods: Multicentric retrospective case series of previously untreated patients with pT3 R0N0 LSCC, who received exclusive surgery between 2011 and 2019. Tumor location; subsite involvement; grading; and lymphatic, vascular, and perineural invasion were reported. Overall survival (OS), disease-specific survival (DSS), and disease-free survival (DFS) were measured.
Results: Fifty-four patients (mean age 67.1; male sex 83.3%; mean follow-up period 37 months) underwent total laryngectomy (48.1%) or partial laryngectomy (51.9%). Ipsilateral or bilateral neck dissection was performed in 46 (85.2%) cases. Perineural invasion was more frequent in case of supraglottic involvement than glottic involvement (85.7% vs. 14.3%, P = .03). Five (9.3%) patients experienced recurrence (3 local recurrences, 1 nodal recurrence, 1 distant recurrence). Rate of recurrence differed between glottic (0%), supraglottic (80%), and transglottic (20%) tumors (P = .01), with a lower risk yielded by glottic involvement (odds ratio [OR], 0.05, 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 0.01-0.56, P = .01). A higher risk was recorded in case of perineural invasion (OR, 66.0, 95% CI, 1.41-3085.3, P = .03). The OS, DSS, and DFS were 79.6%, 96.3%, and 90.7%, without differences regarding the type of surgery. The DFS was lower in case of supraglottic involvement when compared to purely glottic LSCC (83.9% vs. 100%, P = 0.02).
Conclusions: Exclusive surgery is a safe option for patients with pT3 R0N0 LSCC. Adjuvant treatments or closer follow-up monitoring might be considered in case of supraglottic involvement or perineural invasion.
Level of evidence: 4 Laryngoscope, 131:2262-2268, 2021.
Keywords: Larynx; head and neck cancer; laryngeal cancer; laryngectomy; radiotherapy.
© 2021 The Authors. The Laryngoscope published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of The American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, Inc.