Cancer of the larynx in females

Primary carcinoma of the larynx in females: A case series

Background and aim

In north Africa, laryngeal carcinomas remain a predominately male pathology. While in many countries the gap between men and women is narrowing. This study aimed to examine the epidemiological, clinical, therapeutic, and follow up data of a case series of 23 female patients treated for laryngeal carcinoma.

Patients and methods

Medical records of a case series of 23 patients for primary carcinoma of the larynx at the Department of Head and Neck Surgery of the 20 August Hospital of Casablanca, between January 2012 and September 2016, were reviewed. Demographic, clinical, endoscopic, radiological, surgical, and follow-up data were collected.

Results

7% of all the patients treated for LC were women, The most affected age group was between 60 and 79 years (52%), 52% had no major risk factor, all patients had an epidermoid carcinoma, 48% of patients had T2 tumors. T1, T3, and T4a were found in respectively 17%, 22%, and 13%. N1 in 43% of the cases (n = 10), N0 in 35% (n = 8), N2b in 17% (n = 4), N2c in 4% (n = 1). All patients were M0. All the patients in this series have undergone surgical treatment. At 5 years, the survival rate was 83%.

Conclusion

Since the proportions of women in published studies are limited, there are still many controversies about gender differences in laryngeal cancer. Therefore, further studies should seek a clearer understanding of factors involved in female laryngeal cancer to adopt more appropriately the measures of prevention and early diagnosis.

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Larynx cancer is among the neoplasms with greatest gender differences found in most populations worldwide.

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Controversies and limited studies about gender differences in laryngeal cancer.

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Many studies emphasize that its impact seems to be higher for female patients as opposed to males.

Gender-related incidence, risk factors exposure and survival rates of laryngeal cancers - the 10-years analysis of trends from one institution

OBJECTIVES

The aim of the study was the analysis of the epidemiology of laryngeal cancer over 10 years in relation to known risk factors and to assess the current survival rates in this group of patients.

METHODS

The data were retrospectively collected from patients' medical records, then entered in the database using dedicated software and a statistical analysis was performed.

RESULTS

512 subjects - 443 men (86.5%) and 69 women (13.5%) were enrolled into the study. The male-to-female ratio was 6.4:1. There were 97.1% smoking women and 98% smoking men, however the history of more than 20 cigarettes per day smoking admitted 81.1 % of women and 94.6% of men. Heavy alcohol consumption was the case in 14 (20.3%) women and in 307 (69.3%) men. For both the size of heavy alcohol consumption and the size of excessive tobacco use, there was found statistically significant difference between women and men with laryngeal cancer (p<0.05). In the majority of male and female subjects, the tumour was located in the supraglottis/glottis area. Apparently this tumour location was much more common among women, accounting for 60.9% of cases , while in men was confirmed in 39.3% of cases. The stages of the laryngeal cancer were similarly of high advancement for both the men and women - stages III and IV were confirmed in 82.6% of women and in 77.6% of men. The over 5-year survival rate was 39.1% among women and 37.2% among men. Conclusions Contradictory to decreased exposure to risk factors and the shorter period for diagnosis, the higher stages of cancer were observed in women. Although in women the advancement was higher and the majority of cases were located in unfavourable supraglottic area, the survival rates were higher. Key words: laryngeal cancer, epidemiology, men and women, risk factors.

Distant metastases after transoral laser microsurgery for laryngeal and hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma

BACKGROUND

Transoral CO(2) laser microsurgery (TLM) resection of laryngeal-hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinomas has become a standard procedure. The objective was to evaluate whether there is a relationship between TLM and a higher incidence of distant metastases.

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective analysis of 340 consecutive patients with laryngeal or hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma treated with TLM.

RESULTS

Distant metastases occurred in 24 of 340 (7.1%) patients. The mean time of distant metastases diagnosis was 19.1 months (range, 1-41) postsurgery. Univariate study demonstrated an association with alcoholism (p = .008), tumor site (p<.001), grade of differentiation (p = .032), stage (p<.001), tumor classification (T; p = .001), node involvement (N; p<.001), extracapsular node spread (p<.001), and positive surgical margin (p = .004). In multivariate logistic regression analysis, location (sinus piriform: OR = 15.37, p = .025), node involvement (N2: OR = 7.36, p = .003; N3: OR = 19.28, p = .027), and the affected surgical margin (OR 5.32; p = .005) predicted an increased likelihood of distant metastases.

CONCLUSIONS

Development of distant metastases after TLM in patients with squamous cell carcinoma depends mainly on the tumor site, the presence of metastatic lymph node disease, and the margin status after resection.

Presence of human papillomavirus-18 and Epstein–Barr virus in a squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue in a 20-year-old patient. Case report and review of the current literature

We report on a squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue in a 20-year-old woman with co-infection of the tumor with human papilloma virus type 18 and Epstein-Barr virus. To our knowledge, this is the first case of co-infection in carcinoma of the tongue to be reported. We review the present data and theories concerning viral oncogenesis of oral carcinomas.