Surgery Followed by Postoperative Radiation Therapy (PORT) With or Without Chemotherapy for Patients With Locally Advanced Disease

New surgical techniques for resection and reconstruction that provide access and functional preservation have extended the surgical options for patients with stage III or stage IV laryngeal cancer. Specific surgical procedures and their modifications are not described here because of the wide variety of surgical approaches, the variety of opinions about the role of modified neck dissections, and the multiple reconstructive techniques that may give the same results. This group of patients is managed by head and neck surgeons who are skilled in the multiple procedures available and are actively and frequently involved in the care of these patients.

Depending on pathological findings after primary surgery, PORT with or without chemotherapy is used in the adjuvant setting for the following histological findings:

The addition of chemotherapy to PORT for laryngeal cancer squamous cell carcinoma demonstrates a locoregional control and OS benefit compared with radiation therapy alone in patients who have high-risk pathological risk factors, extracapsular extension of a lymph node, or positive margins, based on a pooled analysis of the EORTC-22931 [NCT00002555] and RTOG-9501 [NCT00002670] studies.[28-31][Level of evidence A1]

For patients with intermediate pathological risk factors, the addition of cisplatin chemotherapy given concurrently with PORT is unclear. Intermediate pathological risk factors include:

The addition of cetuximab with radiation therapy in the postoperative setting for these intermediate pathological risk factors is being tested in a randomized trial (RTOG-0920 [NCT00956007]).

The incidence of lymph node metastases in patients with stage I glottic cancer ranges from 0% to 2%; for more advanced disease, such as stage II, 10%; and for stage III glottic, 15%. Thus, there is no need to treat glottic cancer cervical lymph nodes electively in patients with stage I tumors and small stage II tumors. Elective neck radiation is a consideration for T3 or T4 glottic tumors or T1 to T4 supraglottic tumors.[32]

For patients with cancer of the subglottis, combined modality therapy is generally preferred for the uncommon small lesions (i.e., stage I or stage II); however, radiation therapy alone may be used.

Patients who smoke during radiation therapy appear to have lower response rates and shorter survival durations than those who do not.[33] Such patients should be counseled on smoking cessation before beginning radiation therapy.