Effect of repeated laser microsurgical operations on laryngeal cancer prognosis.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate whether repeated sessions of transoral CO(2) laser microsurgery (TLM) aiming to achieve clear histologic margins carry a negative effect on the prognosis of laryngeal cancer. This was a retrospective evaluation of 763 cases that underwent primary TLM treatment for laryngeal cancer. Cases were compared for overall survival and local control rates with respect to status of surgical margins and number of procedures necessary to achieve these margins. No significant differences were noted among cases with negative surgical margins regardless of the number of procedures necessary to achieve these margins. On the other hand, positive margins at the end of surgical treatment carried significant negative prognostic effect. The prognostic effect of negative surgical margins in TLM for laryngeal cancer is significant regardless of the number of procedures required to obtain such margins.