Laryngeal cancer in Finland: A 5-year follow-up study of 366 patients.

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to acquire nationwide data on the management and outcome of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) in Finnish university hospitals over a 5-year posttreatment follow-up. METHODS All records of patients diagnosed and treated for primary laryngeal SCC during 2001 to 2005 were reviewed. RESULTS Three hundred sixty-six patients with laryngeal cancer were identified, 360 of whom had laryngeal SCC. Three hundred forty-two patients with laryngeal SCC (95%) were treated with curative intent. Five-year disease-specific survival (DSS) for T1a, T1b, T2, T3, and T4 glottic SCC was 100%, 95%, 78%, 79%, and 53%, respectively. The corresponding figures for T1 to T4 supraglottic SCC were 68%, 54%, 72%, and 59%. CONCLUSION Results of this nationwide study give a general overview of the outcome of unselected patients treated with unified guidelines. Patients with T2 tumors, usually treated with radiotherapy (RT), had a worse prognosis than expected. This patient group warrants further investigation and possibly treatment intensification.