Comparison of Oncological and Functional Outcomes between Initial Surgical versus Non-Surgical Treatments for Hypopharyngeal Cancer

Whether to administer surgical or non-surgical treatments (radiation or chemoradiation therapies) for the initial management of hypopharyngeal cancer (HPC) remains a topic of debate. Herein, we explored the differences between the two approaches in terms of oncological and functional outcomes in 332 HPC patients.

The primary endpoint was survival probability; secondary outcomes included post-treatment speech and swallowing functions and necessity of additional surgical procedures for salvage or complication management. Cox proportional hazard models using clinical variables were constructed to identify significant factors.

The 2- and 5-year overall survival (OS) rates in all patients were 64.9 and 40.9 %, respectively. In early-stage HPC patients (N = 52), initial surgery ± radiation therapy (RT) or RT alone yielded similar oncological (60 % 5-year OS rate) and functional outcomes. As for resectable advanced-stage cancers (N = 177), initial surgery ± RT/chemoradiation therapy (SRC) and initial concurrent chemoradiation therapy (iCRT) resulted in similar 45–50 % 5-year OS rates. After sacrificing the larynx, 60 % of SRC patients recovered their speaking ability through voice prosthesis, which was less than the rate for iCRT patients (76.6 %; p = 0.008). Additional surgical interventions were required in 28.0–28.6 % of patients in both groups; however, 60 % of patients undergoing additional surgery in the iCRT group received multiple (two or more) surgical interventions (p = 0.029).

Our data revealed similar oncological outcomes, but different functional outcomes, between initial surgical and non-surgical treatments for HPC. In resectable advanced-stage HPC, iCRT resulted in better verbal communication outcomes than SRC; however, more iCRT patients required multiple surgical interventions during clinical courses.