Persistent tracheostomy after primary chemoradiation for advanced laryngeal or hypopharyngeal cancer.

BACKGROUND Despite the demonstrated survival equivalence between chemoradiation and ablative surgery as primary treatment for advanced laryngeal and hypopharyngeal cancers, a subset of patients who undergo organ-preservation therapy have persistent tracheostomy requirement after completion of treatment. METHODS Patients who received primary chemoradiation for advanced laryngeal or hypopharyngeal cancer in a 3-year interval were identified. Rate of persistent posttreatment tracheostomy requirement was evaluated. The 12-month overall mortality rate was compared between patients who did and did not receive a tracheostomy before treatment. RESULTS In 60 patients identified for this study, T3/T4 status and hemilarynx fixation at the time of presentation were associated with persistent tracheostomy requirement 6 and 12 months posttreatment (p = .022; p < .001; and p = .032; p = .0495, respectively). Twelve-month mortality was higher in T3/T4 patients who received pretreatment tracheostomy (p = .034). CONCLUSION Patients with advanced laryngeal or hypopharyngeal cancer who require tracheostomy before treatment have low rates of decannulation and higher short-term mortality than those who do not require tracheostomy before organ-preservation therapy.