[Laryngeal carcinomas and precancerous lesions. Incidence and course in a local area]

Out of 464 laryngoscopies, 23 patients with premalignant and 55 with malignant laryngeal biopsies were followed-up ten years later. Thirteen of the precancerous became malignant, ten within three months, and three after years. All with severe dysplasia later developed a carcinoma. Most male patients (66%) had glottic carcinomas while most female patients (88%) had supraglottic carcinomas. The incidence of larynx carcinomas was significantly higher and the disease specific survival lower in our area than in the rest of Denmark. Crude survival for glottic and supraglottic carcinomas was nearly equal after ten years (36%), but patients with glottic carcinomas had a higher death rate due to other causes. Social factors are suggested to be responsible for this. In 1994-1996 a smaller proportion of patients with glottic carcinomas were diagnosed in stage I, but the overall incidence was a little lower.