Definitive radiotherapy in the management of stage I and II carcinomas of the glottis

Definitive radiotherapy for early glottic carcinoma continues to offer excellent control and the advantage of voice preservation. In the 13 years from January 1972 through December 1984, there were 187 patients diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma of the glottis at the University of Virginia Medical Center. One hundred forty-eight patients were treated with definitive radiotherapy as the initial management. The 3-year disease-free survival for the irradiated population was 93.6% in stage I and 75.5% in stage II. Twenty patients had recurrences following radiotherapy, and 13 of 20 were successfully surgically salvaged for an overall determinate survival of 100% in stage I and 85.7% in stage II at 3 years. These statistics are comparable to those from our previous 16-year review of 147 patients from 1956 through 1971. Factors of prognostic significance were persistent hoarseness after radiotherapy, impaired cord mobility, subglottic extension, and multiple sites of involvement in stage I. We conclude that definitive radiotherapy offers excellent survival and that a majority of the small number of treatment failures can be managed with surgical salvage.