Supraglottic laryngeal or base of tongue cancer involving vallecula.

To determine the outcome of patients with supraglottic laryngeal or base of tongue cancer affecting the vallecula relative to the applied method of definitive treatment, a retrospective analysis was performed of 30 consecutive patients treated during a 12-year period (1981-93). Management consisted of surgical resection with adjuvant radiation in 19 patients and radiotherapy in 11 patients with adjuvant chemotherapy (n = 4). The overall actuarial survival rate was 20% at 2 years. Among the 29 evaluable patients, the locoregional failure rate was 52% and the distant failure rate was 31%. Surgery with radiotherapy was associated with better survival (p > 0.20) and less locoregional failure (p > 0.05) but more systemic failure (p > 0.20) than the nonoperative method(s) of treatment. Cure rate by conventional therapy in supraglottic laryngeal or base of tongue cancer involving the vallecula is dismal. In light of these observations, the multimodality treatment approach may have to be considered in the overall management of the disease.