The Results of Postoperative Radiotherapy for Hypopharyngeal Carcinoma / 대한방사선종양학회지

PURPOSE: This study was carried out to confirm clinical values and limitations of postoperative radiotherapy for hypopharyngeal carcinoma, to evaluate various prognostic factors which may affect to the treatment results and to use these results as fundamental data for making a new treatment strategy. METHODS AND MATERIALS: A retrospective analysis was performed on 64 previously untreated patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the hypopharynx, seen between 1988 and 1999 at Pusan National University Hospital. Most of patients were treated by laryngopharyngectomy and neck dissection followed by conventional fractionated postoperative radiotherapy on surgical bed and cervical nodal areas. RESULTS: The five-year overall survival rate and cause-specific survival rate were 42.2 percent and 51.6 percent, respectively. Univariate analysis of various clinical and pathologic factors confirmed the overall stage, TN-stage, secondary primary cancers, surgical positive margin, nodal extracapsular extension, total radiation doses as significant prognostic factors of hypopharyngeal carcinomas. But in multivariate analysis, TN-stage, surgical positive margin and extracapsular extesion were only statistically significant. CONCLUSION: In resectable cases of hypopharyngeal carcinoma, combined surgery and postoperative radiotherapy obtained good treatement results, even though sacrificing the function of larynx and pharynx. But in advanced and unresectable cases, with respect to survivals and quality of life issues, we were able to confirm some limitations of combined therapy. So we recommend that comparative studies of recent various chemo-radiotherapy methods and advanced radiotherapy techniques with these data should be needed.

Radiotherapy for Early Glottic Carinoma / 대한방사선종양학회지

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to establish general guidelines for the treatment of patients with early glottic carcinoma (T1-2N0M0), by assessing the role of primary radiotherapy and by analyzing the tumor-related and treatment-related factors that have an influence on the treatment results. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective study was composed of 80 patients who suffered from early glottic carcinoma and were treated by primary radiotherapy at Pusan National University Hospital, between August 1987 and December 1996. The distribution of patients according to T-stage was 66 for stage T1 and 14 for stage T2. All of the patients were treated with conventional radical radiotherapy using a 6MV photon beams, a total tumor dose of 60~75.6 Gy (median 68.4 Gy), administered in 5 weekly fractions of 1.8~2.0 Gy. The overall radiation treatment time was from 40 to 87 days, median 51 days. All patients were followed up for at least 3 years. Univariate and multivariate analysis was done to identify the prognostic factors affecting the treatment results. RESULTS: The five-years overall survival rate was 89.2% for all patients, 90.2% for T1 and 82.5% for T2. The local control rate was 81.3% for all patients, 83.3% for T1 and 71.4% for T2. However, when salvage operations were taken into account, the ultimate local control rate was 91.3%, T1 94.5%, T2 79.4%, representing an increase of 8~12% in the local control rate. The voice preservation rate was 89.2%, T1 94.7 %, T2 81.3%. Fifteen patients suffered a relapse after radiotherapy, among whom 12 patients underwent salvage surgery. We included T-stage, tumor location, total radiation dose, fraction size, field size and overall radiation treatment time as potential prognostic factors. T-stage and overall treatment time were found to be statistically significant in the univariate analysis, but in the multivariate analysis, only the overall treatment time was found to be significant. CONCLUSION: The high cure and voice preservation rates obtained when using a procedure, comprising a combination of radical radiotherapy and salvage surgery, may make this the treatment of choice for patients with early glottic carcinoma. However, the prognostic factors affecting the treatment results must be kept in mind, and more accurate treatment planning and further optimization of the radiation dose are necessary.