Laser surgery versus radiotherapy for T1-T2N0 glottic cancer: a meta-analysis.

Background: Laser surgery and radiotherapy are commonly used to treat glottic cancer.

Objective Of Review: To compare outcomes and cost of laser surgery versus radiotherapy for T1-T2N0 glottic cancer.

Type Of Review: Meta-analysis.

Search Strategy: The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Ovid MEDLINE® In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations, Embase, Web of Science (1990-2010) were searched electronically. Three Chinese journals in otolaryngology were searched manually.

Evaluation Method: Retrieved studies were analyzed with Review Manager 5.0 software. Methodological and outcome heterogeneity was analyzed using the χ(2) test and the I(2) test. Homogeneous and heterogeneous data were analyzed using a fixed random effect model.

Results: Eleven studies involving 1,135 patients were included in the analysis. The cure rate did not differ between patients receiving laser surgery versus radiotherapy. Results on voice preservation were inconclusive. The overall cost for laser surgery was lower.

Conclusions: The quality of the reported clinical studies is limited. No level I data are available. Nonetheless, our analysis suggests that laser surgery and radiotherapy produce comparable outcomes.