Laryngeal carcinoma--epidemiological and clinical features: experience of the Rabin Medical Center in Israel

We sought to compare the epidemiological and clinical features of patients with carcinoma of the larynx treated at a major Israeli tertiary facility with other series in the literature. The charts of 361 consecutive patients from 1974 to 1995 were reviewed. Our population was distinguished from other series by a low rate of alcohol abuse (12%), high incidence of second malignancies in sites other than the upper aerodigestive tract (53%) and high rate of early-stage tumors (82%). Overall 5-year survival and local control rates were 88% and 85%, respectively. Our study suggests that the low alcohol consumption and high proportion of early-stage tumors at diagnosis, characteristic of the Israeli population of patients with laryngeal carcinoma, may explain, in part, the relatively high survival and local control rates.