Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2012

College/Unit

School of Medicine

Department/Program/Center

Radiation Oncology

Abstract

Purpose

The study aims to assess the feasibility of intensity-modulated and image-guided radiotherapy (IMRT, and IGRT, respectively) for functional preservation in locally advanced laryngeal cancer. A retrospective review of 27 patients undergoing concurrent chemoradiation for locally advanced laryngeal cancers (8 IMRT, 19 IGRT) was undertaken. In addition to regular clinical examinations, all patients had PET imaging at 4 months and 10 months after radiotherapy, then yearly. Loco-regional control, speech quality and feeding-tube dependency were assessed during follow-up visits.

Results

At a median follow-up of 20 months (range 6–57 months), four out of 27 patients (14.8%) developed local recurrence and underwent salvage total laryngectomy. One patient developed distant metastases following salvage surgery. Among the 23 patients who conserved their larynx with no sign of recurrence at last follow-up, 22 (95%) reported normal or near normal voice quality, allowing them to communicate adequately. Four patients (14.8%) had long-term tube feeding-dependency because of severe dysphagia (2 patients) and chronic aspiration (2 patients, with ensuing death from aspiration pneumonia in one patient).

Conclusions and Clinical Relevance

Functional laryngeal preservation is feasible with IMRT and IGRT for locally advanced laryngeal cancer. However, dysphagia and aspiration remain serious complications, due most likely to high radiation dose delivery to the pharyngeal musculatures.

Source Citation

Nguyen NP, Chi A, Betz M, Almeida F, Vos P, Davis R, et al. (2012) Feasibility of Intensity-Modulated and Image-Guided Radiotherapy for Functional Organ Preservation in Locally Advanced Laryngeal Cancer. PLoS ONE 7(8): e42729. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0042729

Comments

© Nguyen et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

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