Factors affecting voice quality in early glottic cancer before and after radiotherapy

Change in Voice Quality after Radiotherapy for Early Glottic Cancer

Our aim was to track the changes in voice quality for two years after radiotherapy (RT) for early glottic cancer. A videoendostroboscopy, subjective patient and phoniatrician voice assessments, a Voice Handicap Index questionnaire, and objective acoustic measurements (F0, jitter, shimmer, maximal phonation time) were performed on 50 patients with T1 glottic carcinomas at 3, 12, and 24 months post-RT. The results were compared between the subsequent assessments, and between the assessments at 3 months and 24 months post-RT. The stroboscopy showed a gradual progression of fibrosis of the vocal folds with a significant difference apparent when the assessments at 3 months and 24 months were compared (p < 0.001). Almost all of the subjective assessments of voice quality showed an improvement during the first 2 years, but significant differences were noted at 24 months. Jitter and shimmer deteriorated in the first year after RT with a significant deterioration noticed between the sixth and twelfth months (p = 0.048 and p = 0.002, respectively). Two years after RT, only 8/50 (16%) patients had normal voices. The main reasons for a decreased voice quality after RT for early glottic cancer were post-RT changes in the larynx. Despite a significant improvement in the voice after RT shown in a few of the evaluation methods, only a minority of the patients had a normal voice two years post-RT.

Early-Stage Glottic Squamous Cell Carcinoma in the Era of Image-Guided Radiotherapy

Early-stage squamous cell cancer (SCC) of the glottis has a good prognosis. Therefore, patients have long survival outcomes and may potentially suffer from late toxicities of radiotherapy. Radiotherapy with a conventional parallel-opposed-pair or anterior-oblique beam arrangements for stage 1 and 2 glottic SCC have field borders that traditionally cover the entire larynx, exposing organs-at-risk (e.g. carotid arteries, contralateral vocal cord, contralateral arytenoid and inferior pharyngeal constrictor muscles) to high radiation doses. The potential long-term risk of cerebrovascular events has attracted much attention to the dose that carotid arteries receive. Swallow and respiratory motion of laryngeal structures has been an important factor that previously limited reduction of the radiation treatment volume. Motion has been evaluated using multiple imaging modalities and this information has been used to calculate PTV margins for generation of more limited target volumes. This review discusses the current literature surrounding dose-effect relationships for various organs-at-risk and the late toxicities that are associated with them. This article also reviews the currently available data and effects of laryngeal motions on dosimetry to the primary target. We also review the current limitations and benefits of a more targeted approach of radiotherapy for early-stage glottic SCCs and the evolution of CT-based IGRT and MR-guided radiotherapy techniques that may facilitate a shift away from a conventional 3D-conformal radiotherapy approach.

125I seed implantation brachytherapy for glottic carcinoma: an experimental and clinical study

¹²⁵I seed implantation brachytherapy (ISIB) is the preferred treatment for prostate cancer. Is ISIB technically suitable for glottic carcinoma (GC)? This question has not been answered in the literature; thus, the present study was carried out to evaluate the feasibility and effect of ISIB on GC in animal and clinical studies. An animal model of Tu-212 cell laryngeal carcinoma xenografts (n = 20 animals) underwent ISIB treatments [experimental group (EG) using 0.8-mCi/seed, control group (CG) using 0-mCi/seed]; at 4 weeks, haematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining was performed, and the mRNA and protein expression of Bax, Bcl-2 and PCNA was analysed. Moreover, thirty healthy beagle dogs underwent ISIB under CT guidance (EG, 0.8 mCi/seed, CG, 0 mCi/seed), and injuries to the normal tissue were analysed by HE and Masson staining at 2, 4, and 8 weeks. Finally, twenty-one GC patients (T2-3N0M0) underwent percutaneous ISIB at a mean prescription dose of 116.8 Gy; the technical success, complications, local tumour response, voice quality, local progression and overall survival were analysed. The results showed that the xenograft tumours were significantly inhibited in the EG. The Bax protein levels were significantly increased in this group (P<0.05), while the Bcl-2 and PCNA protein levels were decreased (P<0.05). Moreover, the glottic injury scores increased with the dose accumulation (P<0.05), while the adjacent tissue did not show pathohistological injury, and the routine blood tests showed no change between the pre-treatment baseline levels and the levels 2, 4, or 8 weeks later (P>0.05). The clinical study found that the rate of technical success was 100% with no procedure-related complications; furthermore, complete response was achieved in all patients, and no local progression occurred. All patients survived and showed improvements in their voice quality (P<0.05) during the follow-up period (median 23.5 months). The results show that ISIB is a safe and effective treatment for GC; randomized controlled trials are needed to further evaluate its clinical efficacy.

Convolutional Neural Network Classifies Pathological Voice Change in Laryngeal Cancer with High Accuracy

Voice changes may be the earliest signs in laryngeal cancer. We investigated whether automated voice signal analysis can be used to distinguish patients with laryngeal cancer from healthy subjects. We extracted features using the software package for speech analysis in phonetics (PRAAT) and calculated the Mel-frequency cepstral coefficients (MFCCs) from voice samples of a vowel sound of /a:/. The proposed method was tested with six algorithms: support vector machine (SVM), extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost), light gradient boosted machine (LGBM), artificial neural network (ANN), one-dimensional convolutional neural network (1D-CNN) and two-dimensional convolutional neural network (2D-CNN). Their performances were evaluated in terms of accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity. The result was compared with human performance. A total of four volunteers, two of whom were trained laryngologists, rated the same files. The 1D-CNN showed the highest accuracy of 85% and sensitivity and sensitivity and specificity levels of 78% and 93%. The two laryngologists achieved accuracy of 69.9% but sensitivity levels of 44%. Automated analysis of voice signals could differentiate subjects with laryngeal cancer from those of healthy subjects with higher diagnostic properties than those performed by the four volunteers.

Perceptual and acoustic voice analysis in patients with glottis cancer after endoscopic laser cordectomy

&lt;b&gt;Introduction:&lt;/b&gt; Treatment of glottis cancer, despite oncological safety, should consider postoperative voice quality. CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; laser endoscopic cordectomy allows radical removal of the tumor while maintaining respiratory, defensive and phonatory functions. &lt;br&gt;&lt;b&gt;The aim:&lt;/b&gt; The aim of the study is perceptual and acoustic evaluation of voice in patients after endoscopic CO2 III-Va laser cordectomy due to glottis cancer. &lt;br&gt;&lt;b&gt;Material and method:&lt;/b&gt; The study included 30 men after CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; cordectomy. 13 (43%) patients underwent type III cordectomy, 6 (20%) - type IV; 11 (37%) - type Va. Voice quality has been assessed 6 months after the surgery. Control group included 30 healthy men of the same age. GRBAS scale has been used in perceptual evaluation of voice. Acoustic analysis has been performed using DiagnoScope Specjalista software. Narrowband spectrography and Maximum Phonation Time (MPT) measure has been performed. &lt;br&gt;&lt;b&gt;Results:&lt;/b&gt; In study group, voice has been classified as G&lt;sub&gt;1&lt;/sub&gt;R&lt;sub&gt;1&lt;/sub&gt;B&lt;sub&gt;0&lt;/sub&gt;A&lt;sub&gt;0&lt;/sub&gt;S&lt;sub&gt;0&lt;/sub&gt; after type III cordectomy; as G&lt;sub&gt;1&lt;/sub&gt;R&lt;sub&gt;1&lt;/sub&gt;B&lt;sub&gt;1&lt;/sub&gt;A&lt;sub&gt;1&lt;/sub&gt;S&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; in type IV and as G&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;R&lt;sub&gt;1&lt;/sub&gt;B&lt;sub&gt;1&lt;/sub&gt;A&lt;sub&gt;0&lt;/sub&gt;S&lt;sub&gt;3&lt;/sub&gt; in type Va. Acoustic evaluation revealed the highest values of F0, Jitter, Shimmer and NHR after Va cordectomy as well as non-harmonic components in narrowband spectrography and reduction of MPT. &lt;br&gt;&lt;b&gt;Conclusions:&lt;/b&gt; Postoperative voice quality depends on the type of cordectomy. Perceptual assessment indicates that type IV and Va cordectomy cause intensification of voice disorders. Parameters of acoustic evaluation increase with the extent of the procedure. The presence of non-harmonic components in narrowband spectrography increases with the extent of cordectomy, such as the reduction of MPT. Preservation of anterior commissure influences good voice quality in perceptual and acoustic assessment.