Transoral laser microsurgery for treatment for hypopharyngeal cancer in 211 patients

Background The oncologic and functional outcome of transoral laser microsurgery (TLM) for primary treatment of hypopharyngeal cancer was examined in a multimodal treatment concept. Methods Two hundred eleven patients with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the hypopharynx (pT1‐4a, pN0‐2, M0) were treated by TLM +/− neck dissection (88%) +/− (chemo)radiotherapy ([C]RT; 51%). The majority of cases were advanced stages III and IVa (85%). Results The 5‐year Kaplan‐Meier estimates for local control after TLM were pT category‐related 88.1%, 74.8%, 77.3%, and 61.8% for pT1‐4a tumors. The 5‐year estimates of overall survival (OS), disease‐specific survival (DSS), and recurrence‐free survival (RFS) for early stages I and II were 68.2%, 96.7%, and 74.6%, respectively; for stage III they were 65.9%, 83.8%, and 56.4%, respectively; and the rates for stage IVa were 44.5%, 60.7%, and 50.3%, respectively. Overall, 95.7% of the patients maintained regular oral nutrition without feeding tube dependency. Conclusion Primary TLM in multimodal concepts of treatment (+/− neck dissection, +/− [C]RT) offers favorable oncologic results as compared with other therapeutic regimes.