Laser cordectomy or radiotherapy: cure rates, communication, and cost

Health care costs have risen dramatically in recent years. Cost-containment strategies have become necessary to ensure that adequate medical care is accessible to all who need it. These strategies include choosing the least costly of several treatment modalities with equal efficacy. Radiotherapy has been considered by some as the treatment of choice for early glottic tumors. Rationale for this is based on two major assumptions: that cure rates are equal for radiotherapy and surgery, and that voice preservation and quality is superior with radiotherapy. Implicit in these assumptions is the idea that cost of therapy should not be a factor in selecting an alternative. This study presents a literature review of cure rates for laser cordectomy and radiotherapy for T1 glottic cancers. An objective voice analysis was performed on 14 patients with T1 glottic cancers treated with laser cordectomy and the results were compared to a group of 20 patients treated with radiotherapy for similar early tumors. Finally, the average total cost of each modality was calculated and compared. Our findings indicate that: (1) cure rates are equivalent; (2) voice quality after laser cordectomy is as good as that noted after radiotherapy; and (3) total cost of therapy is much less for laser cordectomy than for radiotherapy. We advocate laser cordectomy rather than radiotherapy for most early glottic tumors.