Oncologic outcomes of KTP laser surgery versus radiation for T1 glottic carcinoma

To characterize outcomes for patients who underwent transoral microsurgery with potassium titanyl phosphate (KTP) laser resection of early glottic cancers and to compare outcomes with patients who received external beam radiation therapy.

Retrospective cohort study.

The history of patients with T1 glottic carcinoma treated with curative primary radiation or transoral KTP laser resection was reviewed. Oncologic outcomes for both radiation and surgery cohorts including disease-free and overall survival were calculated.

Eighty-seven patients met inclusion criteria from 2011 to 2016; 47 patients (54%) received primary KTP laser ablation, and 40 patients (46%) received primary external beam radiotherapy. The average length of follow-up was 924 ± 529 days in the KTP laser group and 994 ± 603 days in the radiation group (P = .26). There were no significant differences between the two treatment groups in terms of medical or demographic variables. There were six recurrences in the KTP laser group (13%), versus six in the radiotherapy group (15%) (P = .77). The laryngeal preservation rate for the cohort of patients who initially received KTP laser treatment was 46 out of 47 patients (98%). Of the cohort that received primary radiation therapy, the laryngeal preservation rate was 36 out of 40 patients (90%, P = .18). Disease-free and overall survival were 88% and 98% in the KTP laser cohort and 85% and 95% in the radiation cohort (P = .78, P = .56), respectively.

KTP laser ablation is a modality equivalent to primary radiation therapy in oncologic outcomes for T1 glottic squamous cell carcinoma.

4. Laryngoscope, 128:1052-1056, 2018.