Current opinion in diagnosis and treatment of laryngeal carcinoma

Laryngeal carcinoma is the 11th commonest form of cancer in men world-wide, with 121,000 new cases in 1985. More than 95% of all laryngeal malignancies are squamous cell carcinomas. Treatment indications in cancer of the larynx are often controversial, since there are few comparative studies of different available therapeutic approaches. Surgery and radiotherapy are both widely used, and the choice between these two procedures is the most common therapeutic decision which has to be taken. Laryngeal function preservation has gained more and more weight in the last decades and chemotherapy is also a significant component of several curative approaches. In the last decades, several organ-preserving surgical techniques have become available and consequently total laryngectomy results less applied. Regardless of the treatment modality, Tis, T1, T2 laryngeal carcinomas have an 80-90% probability of cure, whereas for more advanced tumours this is approximately 60%. The most effective approach to laryngeal cancer remains prevention and early diagnosis when this cancer is curable with function preserving treatments.