Surgery Possibilities for Laryngeal and Hypopharyngeal Carcinomas After Treatment with High-Energy Betatron Electrons

The authors report their results with 33 cases of tumours of the larynx and hypopharynx, obtained by the combination of initial irradiation and subsequent surgery. Radiotherapy was performed with high-energy electron beams (14-32 MeV) of a Betatron; doses of 7000-10,000 r were applied over 7-10 weeks, through a single, anterior or anteriorlateral field. Surgery was performed in cases of widespread tumours (where radiotherapy was aimed at bringing the neoplasia within operable conditions), in cases of tumours incompletely sterilized by electron treatment, or of tumours relapsing, and in presence of severe necrosis not controllable by medical treatment. Surgery never met with particular difficulties; the recovery of the tissues was always normal. The authors explain their satisfactory results after a follow-up of 5 years for a few of the cases; such results appear still more gratifying when one considers the particular extension of most of the neoplasias treated.