Management of advanced premalignant laryngeal lesions

Laryngeal carcinogenesis is a multistep process with premalignant lesions progressing to invasive carcinoma over a period of years. The approach to these advanced premalignant lesions has always been early diagnosis and treatment to prevent further progression. Unfortunately, with the current means of diagnosis and a lack of consensus regarding treatment of these lesions, the incidence of advanced laryngeal malignancies continues to rise. The purpose of this article is to review the most recent contributions to the literature regarding diagnosis and management of advanced laryngeal premalignant lesions.

The current literature focuses on several new diagnostic procedures to improve early detection of high-risk laryngeal lesions. These procedures include autofluorescence endoscopy, compact endoscopy, and topical 5-aminolevulinic acid. One large long-term study suggests an aggressive surgical approach in the treatment of advanced laryngeal premalignancies to decrease the incidence of malignant transformation. The preliminary results of chemoprevention trials as well as potential new biomarkers are discussed.

There are several new promising procedures that may have an impact on the early diagnosis of laryngeal precursor lesions. In addition, we are gaining knowledge about the molecular events occurring along the continuum of laryngeal carcinogenesis. This will hopefully allow the identification of additional biomarkers and future targets for chemoprevention.