Oncologic outcomes of early glottic cancers with anterior commissure involvement treated with advanced laser cordectomies

Abstract

Introduction: The contribution of transoral laser microsurgery (TLM) in the management of early glottic cancer is now well established. The anterior commissure (AC) is a delicate anatomic subsite due to its difficult access and the high risk of tumour spread from this site to the thyroid cartilage, the subglottis and the pre epiglottic space. These reasons make the endoscopic approach controversial in case of AC involvement.
Methods: This is a single centre retrospective study performed between the years 2012 and 2015. Eighteen patients treated with advanced Va laser cordectomies were included. 
Results: All tumours were staged T1 (78% were T1a and 12% T1b). After laser surgery 4 patients (22.22%) had positive margins. These patients were candidate to second look procedure allowing detection and treatment of residual disease.  Oncologic outcomes were studied. Two patients experienced local relapses within a mean delay of 7 months. The local control rate was 88.9% while the local control using laser only was 83.33%. One patient underwent a total laryngectomy (TL) followed by adjuvant radiation therapy (RT) after a massive recurrence in the AC with infiltration of the thyroid cartilage. The laryngeal preservation rate was 94.44%. The 3 years overall survival rate reached 100% while the 3 years disease free survival was 88.9%.
Conclusion: the TLM offers acceptable oncologic outcomes in the treatment of T1 laryngeal cancer with AC involvement.