Chemoradiotherapy laryngeal preservation for advanced hypopharyngeal cancer

Laryngeal preservation is a challenge for the treatment of advanced hypopharyngeal cancer. The objective of this study is to evaluate the results of chemoradiotherapy laryngeal preservation for advanced hypopharyngeal cancer at a single institute and the impact of treatment factors on prognosis.

The study population consisted of 42 consecutive patients with resectable stage III-IV hypopharyngeal cancer. Patients with T4b tumor, synchronous primary cancer or those treated palliatively were excluded. Induction chemotherapy followed by concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) was performed in 32 (76.2%) patients, whereas primary CCRT was done in the other 10 (23.8%). Patients were grouped according to the dose intensity of chemotherapy and total dose of radiotherapy (RT).

Grade 3-4 toxicities occurred mostly during CCRT. Thirty-five (83.3%) patients received an optimum dose of cisplatin (CT-optimum), 27 (64.3%) received an optimum dose of RT-optimum and 26 (61.9%) received optimum doses of both (CRT-optimum). CT- and RT-optimum both correlated significantly with better disease-free survival (DFS) (P < 0.001 and = 0.003), overall survival (OS) (P < 0.001 and = 0.004) and laryngeal preservation survival (LPS) (P = 0.01 and 0.04). The 3-year DFS, OS and LPS for CRT-optimum patients were 48.1, 50.0 and 45.6%, respectively.

Achievement of optimum treatment dose remains challenging in chemoradiotherapy laryngeal preservation for advanced hypopharyngeal cancer. Intensive patient care and monitoring by experienced multi-disciplinary teamwork are mandatory. The criteria for selecting patients who will respond to and complete the treatment remain key issues for future investigation.