[Combined radiosurgical treatment of advanced carcinoma of the larynx (T3-4 NO-3). A retrospective comparison between sandwich technique and post-operative irradiation (author's transl)].

From 379 cases of laryngeal and pharyngeal carcinomas we picked out the T3-4 NO-3 tumors and proved whether the sandwich technique or the postoperative irradiation will give the better 5 year survival rates. For supraglottic carcinomas the 5 year survival rate is 59.9% after sandwich therapy and 53.0% after post-operative irradiation. In advanced glottic and hypopharyngeal cancers the prognosis does not depend on one of the both therapeutic schedules: the 5 year survival rate is 55.5% resp. 51.3% and 10.0% resp. 8.3%. Summarizing the carcinomas of all regions of the larynx, that is without the hypopharyngeal neoplasms, we got 54.6% after sandwich and 53.2% after post-operative irradiation. The statistical calculations demonstrate that the sandwich technique will improve the prognosis of supraglottic carcinomas distinctly. Radiotherapy alone in the treatment of advanced cancers of the larynx and hypopharynx is insufficient. The survival chance however depends essentially on the preoperative established lymph nodes. In our material the 5 year survival rate has been deteriorated by more than 25% in the case of N1-3.