Second-look microlaryngoscopy to detect residual carcinoma in patients after laser surgery for T1 and T2 laryngeal cancer.

CONCLUSIONS

The presented concept of second-look microlaryngoscopy in patients treated with transoral laser surgery (TLS) for early glottic carcinoma is promising and warrants further studies to evaluate its benefits.

OBJECTIVES

Clear surgical margins at the primary site influence the course of the disease in patients with laryngeal carcinoma who undergo TLS. Several factors may lead to a reduced sensitivity in detecting tumor remnants at the time of the initial procedure. We therefore developed the concept of second-look microlaryngoscopies to enable a microscopic and histologic reassessment at the primary tumor site to exclude residual carcinoma.

PATIENTS AND

METHODS

Patients were scheduled for two second-look microlaryngoscopies under general anesthesia at 8-10 weeks and 16-20 weeks after the initial TLS procedure. We analyzed the histopathologic findings of biopsies taken in the second-look microlaryngoscopies and the survival parameters of 181 patients treated with TLS for early laryngeal carcinoma.

RESULTS

Carcinoma at the primary site was found in 5.1% of all patients within the first and in 11.5% of all patients within the second second-look microlaryngoscopy, although the preoperative indirect laryngoscopy was inconspicuous in most cases. The survival analysis showed a 5-year and 10-year disease-free survival of 96.3% and 92.7%, respectively. The disease-free survival was significantly decreased when carcinoma was found in the second-look microlaryngoscopy (p=0.004).