Cancer of the larynx in Hong Kong: a clinico-pathological study

Laryngeal cancer is a relatively common cancer in Hong Kong when compared with other cities over the world. The purpose of this study is to characterize and identify the clinico-pathological features of patients with laryngeal cancer being resected or autopsied in our hospital for the years 1973 to 1992. The peak age at presentation of 451 patients (408 males, 43 females) with primary laryngeal cancer resected was 62 years old and 1.6% of patients were under 40. The incidence increased with age in both sexes. The patients were noted to be ageing steadily in the 20-year study period. Most patients (30%) had tumours involving both the supra-glottis and glottis. Histological examination revealed that the cancers comprised squamous cell carcinomas (98.3%), spindle cell carcinoma (0.7%), adenoid cystic carcinoma (0.2%), mucoepidermoid carcinoma (0.2%), atypical carcinoid (0.2%) and chondrosarcoma (0.4%). Most cases of squamous cell carcinoma were moderately differentiated (67.3%). Poorly differentiated squamous cell carcinomas were more often noted in females. Forty-six laryngeal cancers were noted in the study period giving an autopsy incidence of laryngeal cancers of 0.46%. Distant metastases were found in 50% of these autopsied cases. The metastatic lesions were found in the lung (43%), liver (18%), diaphragm/pleura (18%), kidney (9%), bone (7%), heart (5%), spleen (2%), nostril (2%) and small intestine (2%). The results indicate that there are different histological subtypes of laryngeal cancer in Hong Kong Chinese and they share similar epidemiological characteristics with those reported in other studies.