The clinical course, radiotherapeutic management, and results of 42 patients w i d carcinoma of the posterior pharyngeal wall are presented. Radiation herapy remains the treatment of choice. Of 15 patients without metastatic lesions, almost one half lived without the disease for more than 3 years following a& gressive irradiation. The patients with nodal disease had an extremely poor prognosis.
NATOMICALLY, THE HYPOPHARYNX INCLUDES
A the pyriform sinuses, postuicoid area, and posterior pharyngeal wall. Carcinomas arising from these anatomic sites are quite d i s similar from the standpoints of natural history, tumor type, mode of spread, prognosis, and methods of treatment. The purpose of this paper is to present a study of 42 patients with histologically proven squamous cell carcinoma of the posterior pharyngeal wall who were seen and treated at the Massachusetts General Hospital and at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary over the past 20 years. Their records were reviewed, and the lesions classified according to the T N M system of the American Joint Committee on Cancer Staging and End Results Reporting, as follows1:
T,: Tumor confined to the posterior pharyngeal wall.
T,: Tumor of the posterior pharyngeal wall extending into the pyriform sinus or the postcricoid area.
T3: Tumor of the posterior pharyngeal wall ex tending posteriorly to the prevertebral muscles or anterolaterally into the soft tissues of the neck.