Salvage transoral laser microsurgery for early recurrent glottic carcinoma after primary laser treatment

Transoral Laser Microsurgery in Recurrent Laryngeal Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta‐analysis

OBJECTIVE

To determine the oncological outcomes of salvage transoral laser microsurgery (TLM) in the treatment of patients suffering from recurrent laryngeal cancer.

METHODS

PubMed/MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, and Scopus databases were searched. English language, original studies investigating oncological outcomes of TLM in adult patients with recurrent laryngeal cancer were included. Data were pooled using a distribution-free approach for estimating summary local control (LC), disease-specific survival (DSS), and overall survival (OS) curves with random effects.

RESULTS

Two hundred and thirty-five patients underwent salvage TLM after primary (chemo)radiotherapy. The mean follow-up time was 60.8 months (95% CI: 32.7-88.9). Estimated pooled LC rates (95% CI) at 1, 3 and 5 years were 74.2% (61.7-89.4), 53.9% (38.5-75.3), and 39.1% (25.2-60.8). Estimated pooled DSS rates (95% CI) at 1, 3 and 5 years were 88.4% (82.0-95.3), 67.8% (50.9-90.3), and 58.9% (42.7-81.1). Two hundred and seventy-one patients underwent TLM after primary laser treatment. The mean follow-up time was 70.9 months (95% CI: 36.9-104.9). Estimated pooled LC rates (95% CI) at 1, 3 and 5 years were 72.2% (64.7-80.6), 53.2% (42.2-66.9), and 40.4% (29.6-55.2). Estimated pooled DSS rates (95% CI) at 1, 3 and 5 years were 92.1% (85.5-99.1), 77.0% (64.4-92.0), and 67.1% (51.6-87.3).

CONCLUSIONS

TLM is a valuable treatment option for the management of locally recurrent laryngeal carcinoma if performed by experienced surgeons and following rigorous patients' selection criteria. Further studies should be conducted to define stage-based clinical guidelines.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

NA Laryngoscope, 133:1425-1433, 2023.

Early glottic cancer recurrence: A critical review on its current management

INTRODUCTION

Recurrent early glottic cancer (rEGC) poses several issues in terms of timely diagnosis, correct re-staging, and treatment. We want to critically review the latest evidence about rEGC considering its epidemiology, biology, diagnostic challenges, and treatment strategies.

METHODS

A systematic search of the literature using PubMed from 1990 to October 31, 2020 was performed.

RESULTS

There are many different treatment options available (open surgery, transoral mini-invasive surgery, radiotherapy), and many factors related to the patient's status and previous treatments must be considered when planning the best management strategy for rEGC. While its overall prognosis remains satisfactory, it is of the utmost importance to appreciate all the clinical implications derived from the choice of the initial therapeutic modality, and from a correct primary and recurrent staging.

CONCLUSION

The balance between oncological and voice and swallowing functions represents the fundamental principle underlying rEGC management. Future studies should focus on molecular profiling of rEGC, and on the results of the emerging radiation delivery techniques and mini-invasive procedures.

The investigation of salvage endoscopic laryngopharyngeal surgery after chemoradiotherapy

Introduction

Endoscopic laryngopharyngeal surgery (ELPS) is an effective treatment for early-stage oropharyngeal and hypopharyngeal cancers. Since 2007, we have performed ELPS on 14 patients with early-stage cancer who had undergone radiation therapy (salvage ELPS). We discuss the beneficial effects and issues with salvage ELPS compared with those of fresh patients since we experienced some severe complications, such as ruptured pseudoaneurysm with salvage ELPS.

Aim

To our knowledge, the efficacy and safety of ELPS following radiation therapy have not yet been evaluated, and several unknown factors exist. An evaluation was performed for assessing whether ELPS following radiation therapy is safe, similar to findings in fresh cases previously reported by us, and whether this treatment method can be efficacious.

Material and methods

We studied the cases of 14 patients who had undergone salvage ELPS after radiation therapy for head and neck cancer at Akita University Hospital between 2007 and 2018.

Results

The rate of recurrence of head and neck cancer at different sites after salvage ELPS was 48.9% at 2 years. Furthermore, deformation of the pharyngolarynx made it extremely difficult to perform surgery. We also experienced extremely severe complications of ruptured pseudoaneurysms.

Conclusions

If salvage ELPS is performed after radiation therapy, patients should be followed up on an outpatient basis to monitor the onset of subsequent cancers. Complications may become severe; therefore, postoperative management should be performed cautiously. In particular, vulnerable sites, such as the piriform sinus, may not be indicated for surgery. At this stage, the expectation is that patients need to be methodically selected.

Salvage surgery for recurrent larynx cancer

BACKGROUND

Despite advances in treatment, the recurrence rates for laryngeal cancer range from 16% to 40%.

METHODS

Patients with recurrent laryngeal cancer treated at Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) from 1999 to 2016 were reviewed. Survival outcomes were analyzed.

RESULTS

Of 241 patients, 88% were male; the median age was 67 years; 71% had primary glottic tumors. At initial treatment, 72% of patients were seen with early stage disease; primary treatment was radiation (68%), chemoradiation (29%), and surgery (3%). The most common salvage surgery was total laryngectomy (74%). Forty-seven percentage were upstaged at salvage surgery. The 2- and 5-year disease-specific survival (DSS) was 74% and 57%, respectively. Patients with cT4 disease treated with nonsurgical primary management had a 0% 5-year DSS. Independent predictors of DSS were tumor location, perineural invasion, margin, and stage.

CONCLUSIONS

Salvage surgery results in acceptable oncologic outcomes. Stage, disease site, perineural invasion, and margins are associated with inferior DSS.

CO2 Transoral Laser Microsurgery in Benign, Premalignant and Malignant (Tis, T1, T2) Lesion of the Glottis. A Literature Review

Carbon Dioxide transoral laser microsurgery represents a reliable option for the treatment of early glottic carcinoma (Tis–T2), with good functional and oncological outcomes, nowadays representing one of the main options in larynx preservation protocols. The development and improvement of laser devices means surgeons are able to use more precise instruments compared with classic cold dissection in laser-assisted phonosurgery. Secondary effects on voice, swallowing, or quality of life as well as complications have been well documented. Also, with the introduction of a new proposal for staging systems following the principle of the three-dimensional map of isoprognostic zones, the use of narrow-band imaging in clinical evaluation and intraoperative, and the implementation of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance during preoperative evaluation, the development of new tools to improve surgical quality and preliminary reports regarding the use of carbon dioxide laser in transoral robotic surgery suggests an exciting future for this technique.

Long Term Oncological Results of Transoral Laser Microsurgery for Early and Moderately Advanced Glottic Carcinoma in Primary and Salvage Settings

The aim of the study is to document the long term oncological results of trans-oral laser microsurgery (TLM) for early and moderately advanced glottic cancer in primary and salvage settings. In this prospective cohort study 43 consecutive patients of glottic cancer (T1-30, T2-7, and selected T3 with mobile cords-6) were recruited. TLM was performed in these 35 primary and 8 previously treated cases. In our series, the local disease control rate with TLM was 90% (27/30) for T1 disease, 71.4% (5/7) for T2 cancer and 66.6% (4/6) for T3 lesions. The overall disease control rates after subsequent treatment for locoregional recurrences were 100% (30/30), 85.7% (6/7) and 83.3% (5/6) for T1, T2, and T3 glottic cancers respectively. The 5-years disease free survival rate for primary cases was 100% and 50% for salvage cases. The 5-years local disease control rate was 96.4% and 41.67% in primary and salvage TLM settings respectively. The 5-years laryngectomy free rates were 96.3% and 18.75% for primary and salvage cases respectively. TLM offers a minimally invasive and oncologically robust treatment option for early glottic cancer with an overall disease free survival of 100% at 5 years noted for primary untreated cases in this experience. TLM for post radiation salvage cases has however been disappointing and alternate larynx preserving option of open partial laryngectomy needs to be considered in this setting.

Transoral Laser Microsurgery in Early Glottic Lesions

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

To give an overview of the evolvement of transoral laser microsurgery (TLM) in the treatment of early glottic carcinoma and highlight the contribution of recent literature.

RECENT FINDINGS

The indications and limits of TLM have been well specified. Effects on swallowing have been well documented. Introduction of narrow-band imaging (NBI) and diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance has been shown of additional value for outcome. The first reports on transoral robotic surgery show that it may be of added value in the future.

SUMMARY

TLM for early glottic carcinoma (Tis-T2) has very good oncological outcomes with indications of higher larynx preservation in TLM than that in radiotherapy. The anterior commissure is a risk factor if involved in the cranio-caudal plane, and reduced vocal fold mobility is a risk factor when this is due to arytenoid involvement. The best voice results are achieved when the anterior commissure can be left intact along with part of the vocal fold muscle although even in larger resections, patient self-reported voice handicap is still limited.

Guidelines for the Surgical Management of Laryngeal Cancer: Korean Society of Thyroid-Head and Neck Surgery

Korean Society of Thyroid-Head and Neck Surgery appointed a Task Force to develop clinical practice guidelines for the surgical treatment of laryngeal cancer. This Task Force conducted a systematic search of the EMBASE, MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, and KoreaMed databases to identify relevant articles, using search terms selected according to the key questions. Evidence-based recommendations were then created on the basis of these articles. An external expert review and Delphi questionnaire were applied to reach consensus regarding the recommendations. The resulting guidelines focus on the surgical treatment of laryngeal cancer with the assumption that surgery is the selected treatment modality after a multidisciplinary discussion in any context. These guidelines do not, therefore, address non-surgical treatment such as radiation therapy or chemotherapy. The committee developed 62 evidence-based recommendations in 32 categories intended to assist clinicians during management of patients with laryngeal cancer and patients with laryngeal cancer, and counselors and health policy-makers.

Outcomes of transoral laser microsurgical management of T1b stage glottic cancer

Objective:

This study aimed to evaluate the oncological and voice outcomes of transoral laser microsurgery for tumour stage T1b stage glottic cancer patients.

Methods:

A prospective cohort study in a tertiary care head and neck cancer centre included tumour–node–metastasis stage T1bN0M0 glottic cancer patients scheduled to undergo transoral laser microsurgery from January 2002 until June 2014. Kaplan–Meier five-year analyses of local control, overall survival, disease-specific survival and laryngeal preservation were performed. Voice Handicap Index-10 scores and maximum phonation times were also recorded.

Results:

Twenty-one participants with a mean age of 66.8 years were enrolled. The mean follow up was 56.5 months. Kaplan–Meier 5-year survival analysis illustrated a local control rate of 82 per cent, overall survival of 88 per cent, disease-specific survival of 100 per cent, and laryngeal preservation of 100 per cent. The pre-operative Voice Handicap Index-10 score was 19.1 ± 9.47 (mean ± standard deviation (SD)) and the post-operative scores were 13.5 ± 9.29 at three months, 10.44 ± 9.70 at one year and 5.83 ± 4.91 at two years. The pre-operative maximum phonation time was 16.23 ± 5.46 seconds (mean ± SD) and the post-operative values were 14.44 ± 6.73 seconds at three months, 15.27 ± 5.71 seconds at one year and 14.33 ± 6.44 seconds at two years.

Conclusion:

Transoral laser microsurgery yields relatively high rates of oncological control and acceptable voice outcomes, and thus shows utility as a primary treatment modality for T1b glottic cancer.

Salvage Transoral Videolaryngoscopic Surgery for radiorecurrent hypopharyngeal and supraglottic cancer

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the feasibility of Transoral Videolaryngoscopic Surgery (TOVS) for radiorecurrent supraglottic and hypopharyngeal cancer, and to compare survival and complications between primary and radiorecurrent cases.

METHODS

Twelve cases of salvage TOVS for radiorecurrent cancer and 53 cases of TOVS as an initial treatment (primary cases) were evaluated. Days to resume soft diet, Functional Outcomes of Swallowing Scale (FOSS), postoperative complications, epithelization days and survival outcomes were assessed by retrospective chart review.

RESULTS

FOSS score was significantly worse in salvage cases compared with primary cases. Bleeding and airway compromise was slightly greater in salvage cases than in primary cases; however, this was not statistically significant. Wound healing was significantly delayed in salvage cases compared with primary cases (P<0.001). In primary cases, wounds were re-epithelized within 60 days in 83% of patients and within 90 days in almost all patients, while in salvage cases 42% of patients required more than 90 days for wound healing. In salvage cases, the 5-year overall survival, disease specific survival rate, local control rate, and laryngeal preservation rate was 85.7%, 85.7%, 62.5%, and 78.0%, respectively, and 85.7%, 98.0%, 91.3%, and 97.8%, respectively, for primary cases. Local control rate was significantly better in primary cases than in salvage cases.

CONCLUSION

Salvage TOVS was feasible in highly selected cases. After serial transoral surgery, the final laryngeal preservation rate was satisfactory. Swallowing function in salvage cases tended to be worse than in primary cases, and a significantly longer time was required for wound healing.

Open partial horizontal laryngectomy for salvage after failure of CO₂ laser-assisted surgery for glottic carcinoma

Total laryngectomy (TL) is often still recommended as a salvage approach for recurrent laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC). Considering LSCC recurrences after the failure of primary transoral laser microsurgery (TLM), open partial horizontal laryngectomy (OPHL) could be a valid alternative to TL in selected patients. The aim of the present study was to analyze retrospectively the oncological outcome of a consecutive series of 17 patients treated at the Otolaryngology Unit of Vittorio Veneto Hospital (Italy) with OPHL after primary TLM had failed. Nine patients (53 %) had no further recurrences after salvage OPHL. Eight patients had a second recurrence of LSCC after OPHL, and five of them were cured by further salvage treatment, while the other three died of their disease. We found an overall and disease-specific survival both of 82 % and a loco-regional control rate and an ultimate organ preservation rate of 82 and 70 %, respectively. Patients who underwent two-stage bilateral cordectomy for primary glottic carcinoma showed a trend towards a higher rate of second recurrences, a lower ultimate organ preservation rate and a shorter disease-free survival after salvage OPHL. Further studies on larger cohorts of patients are needed to identify potential clinical and/or pathological prognostic parameters capable of pinpointing patients at higher risk of second recurrences after salvage OPHL in cases where TLM has failed. A salvage TL might be reasonably proposed as a first salvage choice in such cases.

Study of the Histopathologic Characteristics and Surface Morphologies of Glottic Carcinomas With Anterior Vocal Commissure Involvement

This article explores the features and the role of the anterior vocal commissure (AVC) structure and the surface morphologies of glottic carcinomas with AVC involvement to provide a reference for the selection of transoral carbon dioxide (CO2) laser surgery. A total of 31 cases of glottic carcinomas with AVC involvement from May 2012 to January 2014 were included. All patients underwent electronic laryngoscopic examinations and computed tomography scans to determine the surface morphology. After surgery, the tumor specimens were resected integrally, and axial serial sections parallel to the plane of vocal cords were taken to explore the features and possible invasion paths of the glottic carcinomas with AVC involvement. The rates of involvement of the supraglottis and subglottis were 71.4% and 14.8%, respectively, via the AVC. The involvement of the superficial layer of the unilateral or bilateral vocal cords without involvement of the vocal muscle in the AVC region (IVM) or the cartilage was present in 15 cases (48.4%). The involvement of the superficial layer of the unilateral and bilateral vocal cords occurred in 16 cases (51.6%) with the IVM in 13 cases and the involvement of the intermediate lamina of the thyroid cartilage (ITC) in 8 cases. The involvement of the ITC was associated with the involvement of the vocal muscle of the AVC region (P < 0.05). Among the pushing carcinomas, 15 of 21 (71.4%) presented with well-defined tumor mass, and 8 of 10 (80.0%) infiltrating carcinomas presented with multiple tumor nests that were often surrounded by fibrosis (P < 0.05). The AVC is an important path of invasion of subglottic in glottic carcinomas but less so for suparglottic. The Broyles' ligaments acted as a barrier against the spread of the tumors to the thyroid cartilage, but this role was obviously weaken by the involvement of the vocal muscle of the AVC region. The infiltrating carcinomas presented with multiple tumor nests in fibrous tissue. When CO2 laser microsurgery is considered as a treatment option, these facts should be kept in mind.