[Delayed treatment of laryngeal and hypopharynx cancer in the North-Eastern part of Poland in years 1986-1999].

The authors estimated larynx and hypopharynx cancer in patients treated in the Department of Otolaryngology Medical Academy in Bialystok between 1996-1999 and compared the observed state to the data from 1986-1995. At the same time, we tried to determine the causes of delayed treatment based on patients' reports and medical case histories divided according to patients and medical procedures. As in years: 1986-1995, a significant percentage of tumour progression as also observed in the present day. The T3 and T4 tumour comprised about 65% of all larynx and hypopharynx cancers in particular five-year periods. The T1 and T2 tumours included only 34% of the cases. Clinical evaluation of the lymph nodes showed that high grade of tumour progression was accompanied by unilateral or bilateral lymph node metastases (N2 and N3--about 67%). Among the causes of the delayed treatment, patients' ignorance of the first symptoms (43-51%) and ignoring follow-up visit (30-32%) are being still the most dominant ones. According to medical procedures the delay ensued mostly because the effect of apparent improvement after the treatment (36%) and, unfortunately, due to wrong diagnosis (30-31%). Nowadays, it seems to be more difficult to obtain medical advice, specifically as far as specialists are concerned.