Induction Chemotherapy plus Radiation Compared with Surgery plus Radiation in Patients with Advanced Laryngeal Cancer

CANCER of the larynx affects more than 12,000 people each year and results in an estimated 3700 deaths. 1 The conventional treatment of patients with advanced (Stage III or IV) squamous carcinoma of the larynx consists of total laryngectomy or a combination of laryngectomy and postoperative radiation therapy; this treatment results in overall five-year survival rates ranging from 0 to 50 percent. 2 3 4 Because laryngectomy results in substantial functional morbidity, including the loss of the natural voice, alterations in deglutition, and the creation of a permanent tracheostoma in the neck, alternative forms of treatment have been developed. 5 , 6 In selected patients with moderately . . .