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Does prolonged treatment course adversely affect local control of carcinoma of the larynx?
1Department of Radiation Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston.
Purpose:
The purpose of this paper is to present local control rates of carcinoma of the larynx in relation to the total treatment course after radical radiation therapy.
Methods And Materials:
A total of 1350 patients with laryngeal carcinoma treated at the Massachusetts General Hospital for the past three decades were available for analysis. Treatment courses were divided into two groups: 45 days and > 45 days. The local control rates were compared and evaluated for statistical differences.
Results:
The data indicated that prolonged treatment course adversely affects local tumor control of both advanced glottic and supraglottic lesions, but to a lesser degree for the early tumors.
Conclusion:
The study indicated that for optimal local control, radiation treatment should be completed as soon as possible, preferably within 6.5 weeks, either by once- or twice-daily accelerated programs. The local control of early T1 glottic cancer has been exceedingly satisfactory by conventional once-daily radiation therapy. Further improvement by shortening of treatment time for such early lesions will be difficult to assess without a prospective randomized trial.