Korean J Otorhinolaryngol-Head Neck Surg.  2023 Dec;66(12):857-864. 10.3342/kjorl-hns.2023.00878.

Long-Term Treatment Outcomes of Hypopharyngeal Cancer Using Different Surgical Modalities

• Kim JY
• Park YM
• Lim JY
• Koh YW
• Kim SH

• KMID: 2549468
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3342/kjorl-hns.2023.00878

Abstract

Background and Objectives
In the present study, we evaluated the treatment results of hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (HPSCC) patients and analyzed the occurrence of secondary primary malignancies. Treatments were based on two different surgical modalities (conventional pharyngo-laryngectomy vs. transoral surgery). In addition, prognostic factors of the patients were evaluated.
Subjects and Method
We analyzed medical data of 232 patients diagnosed with HPSCC and underwent surgery at our hospital from January 2006 to December 2019.
Results
The 5-year recurrence-free survival was 67.2% for the stage I-II group and 64.9% for the stage III-IV group. The 5-year disease-specific survival was 78.2% for the stage I-II group and 54.5% for the stage III-IV group. N classification was significantly correlated with disease relapse and patient mortality. Patient age, sex, perineural invasion, extranodal extension, initial tumor stage, and early recurrence (within 6 months) were significantly associated with successful salvage treatment. The two surgical modalities did not yield different oncological outcomes. Secondary primary malignancies occurred most frequently in the esophagus, with no observed inferior survival rate in patients with second malignancies.
Conclusion
The 5-year survival rate for HPSCC patients who received surgical treatment was 78% for stage I-II and 54% for stage III-IV. While no difference in oncological outcome was observed based on surgical modality, the transoral surgery group showed better functional outcomes.

Keyword

Hypopharyngeal cancer; Propensity scores; Robot-assisted surgery; Second primary cancer; Surgical procedure