Background: Although the survival rate of early-stage laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) patients treated by radiotherapy (RT) is sufficient, the larynx preservation rate is unsatisfactory. To improve the larynx preservation rate, such patients have been treated by RT with chemotherapeutic agents.
Patients and methods: RT with or without uracil-tegafur (UFT) was performed for T1 cases, and UFT and carboplatin for T2 cases.
Results: In T1 cases, 30 patients received RT and 16 patients received concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT). In T2 cases, 28 patients received RT and 45 patients received CCRT. There were no significant differences in the response and survival rates between the treatment methods both in T1 and T2 cases. The 5-year larynx preservation survival rate was improved significantly by CCRT in T2 cases (66.7% vs. 93.3%; p < 0.01).
Conclusion: CCRT for early-stage laryngeal SCC patients was efficacious to improve the larynx preservation survival rate.