[Cancer of the larynx in Ecuador]

A retrospective review was made of 75 cases of laryngeal cancer evaluated and treated at the Social Security Hospital of Quito (Ecuador). No exclusively supraglottic lesions were found; 67% of cases, were glottic or glottic-supraglottic. Thirty-two per cent of cases were T1 and T2 and 23% had palpable lymph nodes in neck. Most T1 and T2 tumors were treated with radiotherapy (RT) and most T3 and T4 tumors with a combination of surgery and RT. The 5 and 10-year overall survival rates were 55% and 47%, respectively. The 5-year survival rates were: 81% for T1 and T2 tumors and 36% for T3 and T4 tumors (p = 0.0008), 76% for N- and 42% for N+, 53% for well-differentiated and 58% for moderately or poorly differentiated tumors, 85% for T1 and T2 lesions treated with RT and 67% for T1 and T2 lesions treated with partial surgery, and 14% for T3 and T4 lesions treated with RT and 49% for T3 and T4 lesions treated surgically (non-significant differences).