Supracricoid partial laryngectomy in the treatment of laryngeal cancer: univariate and multivariate analysis of prognostic factors.

OBJECTIVES To evaluate the oncological results of supracricoid partial laryngectomy as a treatment for selected glottic and supraglottic cancer in a large series of patients who had undergone uniform treatment over a 16-year period and to determine the different prognostic factors that may influence local control and survival. DESIGN Retrospective clinical study. SETTING Academic tertiary referral medical center. PATIENTS The study population comprised 253 consecutive patients (234 men and 19 women) with glottic and supraglottic squamous cell carcinoma. The mean age was 58 years for men and 59.2 years for women. INTERVENTION Supracricoid partial laryngectomy: 180 patients had undergone cricohyoidopexy and 73 had undergone cricohyoidoepiglottopexy. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Local control and overall survival. Potential prognostic factors for local control and survival were evaluated with univariate and multivariate models. RESULTS The 3-, 5-, 10-, and 16-year overall survival rates in this group of 253 patients were 85.8%, 79.1%, 57.6%, and 57.6%, respectively. With regard to local control, univariate and multivariate analyses showed that a positive resection margin was the only important predictor of local control and that a dysplastic lesion at the margin of resection is just as aggressive as the presence of invasive carcinoma. When considering the prognostic factors influencing survival, univariate analysis showed that the tumor category, lymph node category, tumor stage, and recurrence all had a significant influence on the survival rate. Multivariate analysis showed that the most important predictor of survival was recurrence. CONCLUSIONS Supracricoid partial laryngectomy is a valid choice in the treatment of selected glottic and supraglottic cancer while maintaining laryngeal functions and achieving a high rate of local control. T category, N category, tumor stage, positive resection margins, and recurrence are the most important predictors of oncological outcome.