Stomal recurrence in patients with T1 glottic cancer after salvage laryngectomy for radiotherapy failures: role of p53 overexpression and subglottic extension

The role of p53 overexpression in the development of stomal recurrence was studied in patients with T1 glottic cancer who had undergone salvage laryngectomy after primary radiotherapy failure (first recurrence). The role of subglottic extension of the recurrent tumor in the development of stomal recurrence was also studied. One hundred fourteen patients with T1 squamous cell carcinoma of the glottic larynx were irradiated with curative intent. A local recurrence (first recurrence) developed in 23 patients (20%), and salvage laryngectomy was performed for 20 of these patients. No postlaryngectomy radiation therapy was included in the treatment of recurrences. Several risk factors thought to be significant in the development of stomal recurrence were analyzed in these 20 patients. Prognostic factors analyzed include: p53 overexpression in the preradiation biopsy specimen, subglottic extension of the first recurrence, thyroid cartilage and lymph node involvement at the time of first recurrence, emergency tracheostomy performed before salvage laryngectomy, and the laryngectomy procedure performed for first recurrence. Presence of p53 protein in the preradiation biopsy specimen of laryngeal cancer did not show any adverse effect on the development of stomal recurrence. Stomal recurrence developed in 27% of patients with positive biopsies and in 20% of patients with negative biopsies (p = 1.00). Subglottic extension of the first recurrence was associated with an increased incidence of stomal recurrence. Rates of stomal recurrence were 6% in patients without subglottic extension and 100% in patients with subglottic extension (p = 0.001). All other risk factors studied showed no effect on stomal recurrence. In this study, p53 overexpression showed no effect on the development of stomal recurrence after salvage laryngectomy in patients with T1 glottic cancer. Conversely, subglottic extension of the recurrence was found to be strongly associated with stomal recurrence. All other factors analyzed showed no effect on stomal recurrence.