Functional outcomes of early laryngeal cancer - endoscopic laser surgery versus external beam radiotherapy: a systematic review.

OBJECTIVE

Current evidence suggests there is no difference between endoscopic laser surgery and radiotherapy with regards to oncological outcomes of early laryngeal cancer. Patient management may therefore be directed towards voice and quality of life outcomes. This systematic review compares functional outcomes with respect to voice character, swallowing outcomes and quality of life for endoscopic laser surgery versus radiotherapy for T1 and T2 stage laryngeal carcinoma.

METHOD: Search terminology was designed by both authors and used in Cochrane, PubMed and Web of Science databases. Studies of adult patients treated for primary T1 and T2 laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma utilising one objective (validated) measure of quality of life, swallowing or voice were included.

RESULTS

Initial searches identified 1767 studies. After inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied, 42 studies were identified for full-text review.

CONCLUSION

This review concluded that neither treatment is clearly advantageous. Future research should be composed of further prospective studies that use a standardised assessment regime to allow valid comparison.