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Updated: Apr 22, 2026

Minimally Invasive Murine Laryngoscopy for Close-Up Imaging of Laryngeal Motion During Breathing and Swallowing
Published on: December 1, 2023
[Larynx cancer: quality of life and voice after treatment]
Vaneli Colombo Rossi1, Fernando Laffitte Fernandes2, Maria Augusta Aliperti Ferreira2
1Speech Therapy Rehabilitation after Head and Neck Surgery, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, SP, Brazil.
Introduction:
Treatments for patients with laryngeal cancer often have an impact on physical, social, and psychological functions.
Objective:
To evaluate quality of life and voice in patients treated for advanced laryngeal cancer through surgery or exclusive chemoradiation.
Methods:
Retrospective cohort study with 30 patients free from disease: ten total laryngectomy patients without production of esophageal speech (ES); ten total laryngectomy patients with tracheoesophageal speech (TES), and ten with laryngeal speech. Quality of life was measured by SF-36, Voice-Related Quality of Life (V-RQOL), and Voice Handicap Index (VHI) protocols, applied on the same day.
Results:
The SF-36 showed that patients who received exclusive chemoradiotherapy had better quality of life than the TES and ES groups. The V-RQOL showed that the voice-related quality of life was lower in the ES group. In the VHI, the ES group showed higher scores for overall, emotional, functional, and organic VHI.
Discussion:
Quality of life and voice in patients treated with chemoradiotherapy was better than in patients treated surgically.
Conclusion:
The type of medical treatment used in patients with laryngeal cancer can bring changes in quality of life and voice.
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