The first part of the study was devoted to 199 tumors treated by surgery, either conservative for the smallest tumors (18 cases) or radical (1 81 cases), with systematic postoperative radiotherapy. The 3-year survival rate was 48% and the 5-year, 33%, with a 12% local recurrence rate, a 7.5% neck recurrence rate, and 27.6% rate distant metastases. Histologic correlations were developed. The second part of the study reported 152 cases treated by external radiotherapy alone either as a variant of our treatment protocol for the small-sized tumors (31 cases) or, for the major part (1 21 cases), as a result of surgical inoperability or patient refusal. The former subgroup had a variable survival rate (65% at 3 years and 40% at 5 years) equivalent to similarly staged patients treated with conservation laryngeal surgery, whereas the prognosis of the latter subgroup was poor. The two main causes of failure were the inability to apply the curative treatment protocol in 35% of patients ineligible for a surgery and the high risk of distant metastases in the 65% of patients able to undergo the usual management. HEAD & NECK SURGERY 10:4-13, 1987
Hypopharyngeal carcinoma in France accounts for 15% of all head and neck malignancies, being
From the Head and Neck Department (Drs Vandenbrouck. Sicot, Mamelle. Le Ridant. and Dornenge).