A novel modality to cure early glottic carcinoma

Abstract

Introduction: The current practice standards demand achievement of cure along with preservation of voice and laryngeal anatomy. The recommended approaches for early stage glottic carcinoma are both laser surgery (LS) as well as radiotherapy (RT). Both modalities having some merits as well as demerits. So the objective of the study is to compare the outcome of early glottic cancer patients having laser resection with the patients who received radiation therapy. Study Design: Cross sectional study. Setting: Ziauddin Hospital. Period: January 2013 up to July 2017. Material and Methods: Patients aged 18 years and above with a history of constant hoarseness of voice from 2 months to 4 months were taken. Only the patients with stage 1 that is T_1a or T_1b squamous cell carcinoma of vocal cords with no nodal or distant metastasis (T₁N₀M₀) were included. Results: A total of 25 patients were diagnosed with glottic cancer of stage T₁N₀M₀. The mean age was 50.56 ± 11.8. Most of them were male with high prevalence of aggravating factors. Majority of patients had left sided vocal cord involvement. When comparing the both modalities, the results showed that Radiotherapy had more complications than Laser surgery. On follow-up visits, the complication with Radiotherapy subsides and larynx anatomy restored but there was no voice restoration in Laser surgery. Conclusion: It can be concluded that both treatment modalities including Laser Surgery and Radiotherapy had excellent outcome with good prognosis for voice. However, considering the survival rates, Radiotherapy showed bit superiority over Laser Surgery, despite its complications. Radiotherapy should be the first choice after diagnosing early stage of glottic carcinoma.