Statistical correlations among supraglottic cancers.

The purpose of this study was to quantify the extent to which the presence or absence of cancer in endoscopically evaluable regions of the supraglottic larynx predicted occurrence in a region less easy to visualize but of critical importance to the nature of treatment. Histologic findings from 32 specimens were subjected to two separate statistical analyses. In the first analysis, the presence of cancer on the floor of the ventricle was the best predictor of tumor below this level. The combination of variables with the best correlation was cancer on the floor of the ventricle and in the vestibular folds. In the second analysis, involvements of the deep structures in the aryepiglottic folds and in the infrahyoid epiglottis were the only significant predictors of tumor extending to the preepiglottic space. The results suggest that such statistical analyses may provide guidelines for selection of treatment.