Multi-institutional analysis of early glottic cancer from 2000 to 2005

The purpose of this study is to analyze the outcome of patients with early glottic cancer (GC) treated with radiotherapy (RT) with or without chemotherapy at 10 institutions in the Tokai District, Japan.

Ten institutions combined data from 279 patients with T1-T2 GC treated with RT with or without chemotherapy between 2000 and 2005. The overall survival rate, disease-specific survival rate, and local control rate were evaluated in 270 patients, except for incomplete cases due to issues such as discontinuation, using the method of Kaplan-Meier and compared using the log-rank test. Results were considered statistically significant at the level of p < 0.05.

For 122 patients, the tumors were classified as T1a, while 64 patients had T1b tumors, and 84 patients had T2 tumors. In three cases of T1 tumors, the subtype was unknown. Combined chemoradiotherapy (CRT) was administered during each stage, and various chemotherapy drugs and regimens were used. The median follow-up period was 55.4 months. The 5-year LC rates for T1a, Tb, and T2 tumors in all patients were 87.9%, 82.7%, and 74.1%, respectively. The difference between T1a and T2 was statistically significant (p = 0.016). The 5-year LC rates for T1a, Tb, and T2 with CRT were 92.7%, 78.6%, and 80.7%, respectively, while the rates with radiation alone were 86.5%, 83.8%, and 64.4%, respectively. The difference between CRT and RT alone was not statistically significant in each stage.

In this survey, CRT was performed for early GC at most institutions in clinical practice. Our data showed no statistical difference in the LC rates between CRT and RT alone in each stage. However, there was a tendency for the LCRs of the CRT group to be more favorable than those of the RT group in the T2-stage.