Surgical approach and results of treating two subcategories pT2 glottic carcinoma of the larynx

Background: T2 glottic carcinoma is a nonhomogenous localization of laryngeal carcinoma with two subcategories. The aim of the study was to retrospectively analyze the results of surgically treated pT2 glottic carcinomas and to determine the importance of subcategories of glottic carcinomas in diagnostics, surgical treatment, and patients’ survival. Methods: During the period 1990-2000, 71/701 (10%) patients were diagnosed. with pT2 glottic carcinoma. All patients were treated with different surgical techniques. Results: Total laryngectomy was performed in 14/71 patients. Involvement of anterior commisure in local spreading of the cancer was found in 24/71 patients; total laryngectomy was performed in 13/24 and reconstructive surgery in 11/24. Selective resection of neck was done in 49 patients and metastases were found in 2 of these patients. Out of fifty-seven patients who had reconstructive laryngeal surgery local disease recurrence appeared in 8 patients. These 8 patients were treated with total laryngectomy. Overall 5-year survival was 90.1% with a slight difference between subcategories (89.1% subcategory I; 93.7% subcategory II) which was not statistically significant (p>0.05). Disease free 5-year survival was 83.6% with a difference between subcategories (81.1% subcategory I; 93.3% subcategory II) which was not statistically significant (p>0.05). Conclusion: Spreading of glottic carcinoma toward supraglottic and subglottic structures complicates exact preoperative evaluation of tumor size regardless to preoperative diagnostic procedures. Just owing to that, larger surgical resections performed bring more radicalness with less percentage of local recurrence and better effects on overall survival and disease free survival rate.