Radical radiotherapy in T2N0 glottic laryngeal carcinomas

The present work analyzes the clinical results obtained at the Istituto del Radio in Brescia, Italy, using radiotherapy in the treatment of T2N0 glottic carcinomas. The analysis covers a sampling of 127 patients who had been treated using fixed field with 60Co or linear accelerator (high energy photons) technique delivering a minimum target dose of 60 Gy over the course of a 6-week period; 200 cGy a day. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate: treatment response 3 months after treatment was suspended using the WHO nomenclature; Overall Survival Rate and Actuarial Disease-Free Survival Rate at five and ten years from the end of treatment comparing the results obtained in cases of T2a and T2b; biological cost of treatment in terms of late recurrences. Three months after treatment had ended, a complete response was seen in 95% of the patients. The overall survival was 85% at five years while the NED survival was 67% at five years. Surgical salvage made it possible to treat 44% of those who did not respond to radiotherapy or who had a recurrence. Late recurrence rate was 4.7%. The clinical results are slightly lower than those obtained in the literature for surgical series in terms of survival probability. They were, however, certainly better in terms of good vocal preservation.