[The options of surgery and laryngeal preservation for hypopharyngeal cancer patients more than 65 years old].

OBJECTIVE: To study the effectiveness of preserving laryngeal function for senile hypopharyngeal cancer patientsolder than 65. METHOD: The clinical data of 58 surgery cases of senile hypopharyngeal cancer patients more than 65 years old were colleted and analyzed. Thirty-one cases preserved the laryngeal function, while the rest did not. Perfect preoperative preparation was done before surgery. Surgical resection specimens were sent to frozen-section examination. When the negative incisal margin was confirmed, the defect was repaired by the appilication of local stitching, ribbon muscle flap, major myocutaneous flaps, split thickness skin and replacement of esophagus by stomach. Radical radiotherapy was used after surgery. Survival rate was calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method. Chi-square test was used to compare complications of the two groups. RESULT: The 3 years and 5 years survival rate for all cases were 48.3% (28/58) and 27.6% (16/58), respectively. For patients with laryngeal function preservation, the 3 years and 5 years survival rate were 51.6% (16/31), 29.0% (9/31), respectively. For cases without laryngeal function preservation, the 3 years survival rate and 5 years survival rate were 44.4% (12/ 27), 25.9% (7/27), respectively. The result showed no obvious difference in survival rate between two groups (P > 0.05). Surgery complication rate were 45.2% (14/31) and 40.7% (11/27), without obvious differences between the two groups (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: It is feasible for senile hypopharyngeal cancer patients to choose suitable operation based on their physical conditions and the tumor extension. The key issues include well perioperative treatment management, correct indications grasp, and intraoperative repair skills improvement.