Laryngeal Cancer

In laryngeal carcinoma – colloquially called cancer of the larynx – (synonyms: Malignant neoplasm of the epiglottis; Malignant neoplasm of the glottis; Malignant neoplasm of the subglottis; Malignant neoplasm of the aryngeal cartilage; Malignant neoplasm of the true vocal cord; Malignant neoplasm of the epiglottis cartilage; Malignant neoplasm of the larynx; malignant neoplasm of larynx; malignant neoplasm of laryngeal cartilage; malignant neoplasm of vestibular ligament; malignant neoplasm of vocal ligament; malignant neoplasm of thyroid cartilage; malignant neoplasm of stellate cartilage; malignant neoplasm of pocket ligament; malignant neoplasm of ventriculus laryngis; carcinoma of glottis; carcinoma of epiglottis; carcinoma of larynx; carcinoma of laryngeal cartilage; carcinoma of laryngeal cartilage; carcinoma of larynx; leiomyosarcoma of larynx; neoplasm of the internal larynx; vocal cord carcinoma; vocal fold carcinoma; subglottic malignant neoplasm; subglottic carcinoma; subglottic cancer; supraglottic malignant neoplasm; supraglottic carcinoma; supraglottic cancer; ICD-10-GM C32. -: Malignant neoplasm of the larynx) is a malignant (malignant) neoplasm of the larynx. It belongs to the group of head and neck tumors.

Laryngeal carcinoma is the third most common malignant tumor of the head and neck region, but is relatively rare in relation to all tumor diseases (about 1-2% in Central Europe). These tumors are predominantly squamous cell carcinomas.

According to the localization, the following types can be distinguished:

  • Supraglottic (> 30%) – located above the vocal cords.
  • Glottic (> 60%; vocal fold carcinoma).
  • Subglottic (circa 1%) – located below the vocal cords.
  • Hypopharyngeal carcinoma (pharyngeal cancer) – tumor in the lower pharyngeal region.

Sex ratio: males to females is 6: 1.

Frequency peak: the maximum incidence of laryngeal carcinoma is between the 55th and 65th year of life. The median age at diagnosis is 65 years.

The incidence (frequency of new cases) in Northern and Southern Europe for males is approximately 6-18 cases per 100,000 population per year and for females 1.5 cases per 100,000 population per year.

Course and prognosis: If laryngeal carcinoma is detected early, the disease can be completely cured. The prognosis depends on the size of the tumor, its location, and whether it has already metastasized (formed daughter tumors). Vocal fold carcinoma has the best prognosis because it becomes symptomatic early and is thus more amenable to treatment. Often the entire larynx must be surgically removed. In this case, psychological care should be provided afterwards, as this procedure is very stressful for the affected person. Subsequent speech therapy is also necessary. Laryngeal carcinoma occurs recurrently. The recurrence rate is 10-20%. Approximately 90% of recurrences occur within two years of primary surgery.Glottic carcinomas have the best prognosis, subglottic carcinomas have the worst prognosis.Glottic or supraglottic stage I and II laryngeal carcinomas have a therapy modality-independent disease-specific 5-year survival of 82-100% (stage I) and 82-92% (stage II), respectively [according to current S3 guideline].

The 5-year survival rate is circa 60%.