Hypopharyngeal carcinoma: King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre experience

From 1975 to 1985, 202 patients with hypopharyngeal cancer were seen at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre (KFSH&RC). The endoscopic investigation showed that 28.3% of these patients had postcricoid carcinoma; 19.85% had pyriform fossa carcinoma and 52.9% had involvement of both sites. The pathological diagnosis of all cases was squamous cell carcinoma type. The majority of the patients (62.98%) had T4 lesions, which showed a late presentation to KFSH&RC. Information related to survival was available for a smaller number of patients due to many "lost-to-follow-up" cases. The overall median survival time was 8.5 months (1-110 months). The survival rate for each site was calculated, as well as the staging of the disease and treatment modality used. It appeared that pyriform fossa (median 21 months) had the best survival rate. In addition, the earlier the lesion was detected and the more aggressive the treatment applied, the better the survival rate. Fifty percent of the patients receiving radiation therapy and surgery had a five-year survival rate. Factors other than smoking and/or drinking should be looked for in our community as predisposing to this disease in our population.