Radiotherapeutic management of cancer of the supraglottis

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Abstract
One hundred eighty‐five patients with cancer of the supraglottis were treated with curative intent by radiotherapy alone or combined with surgery over a 14‐year period. Minimum follow‐up was 3 years. Sixty‐eight percent had Stage III or IV disease. Moderate‐dose radiotherapywith surgery in reservewas the policy for the early lesionsand yielded a 3‐year locoregional control rate of 76% for T1 N0/N1T2 N0/N1and T3 N0/N1 lesions combined. In this group84% of patients with locoregional control retained laryngeal function. The major complication rate was 4%. Patients with advanced disease were treated with preoperative radiotherapy and surgeryresulting in an overall 3‐year no evidence of disease rate of 72%. Adverse prognostic factors in supraglottic cancer were the extent of the primary lesion and the presence of N2 or N3 nodes. Neither vocal cord fixation nor N1 nodes had a negative influence on survival in T3 and T4 disease.