Hypopharyngeal cancer: A state of the art review

•Hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma has a reported 5-year overall survival rate of approximately 30–35%.•Nearly 50% of patients exhibitrecurrence within the first year after diagnosis.•Laryngeal preservation strategies are well supported although long term toxicity is significant.•Salvage surgery a common occurrence.•Future directions will focus on immunotherapy/targeted therapies to improve survival outcomes. Cancer of the hypopharynx is relatively rare and accounts for roughly 3% of all head and neck cancers. Unfortunately, hypopharyngeal carcinoma has one of the worst prognosis of all head and neck cancers with a reported 5-year overall survival rate of approximately 30–35%. Toxicity related to therapy, and the need for surgical salvage continue to dominate the landscape in this disease. In this article, we set out to discuss a comprehensive overview of the current management principles, recent literature and evidence based therapeutic options surrounding treatment for hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma, with a special focus on the evolution of an organ sparing paradigm.