[Procedure and results of combined radiation and surgical treatment of laryngeal cancer patients].

The paper is concerned with the results of a study of 250 patients with laryngeal cancer who received a radical course of radiation therapy. The 1st stage of the disease was diagnosed in 15 (6%) patients, the 2nd stage in 47 (18.8%), the 3rd in 178 (71.2%) and the 4th in 10 (4%) patients. gamma-Beam therapy was given to 158 patients, electron therapy to 60, and electron therapy combined with 5-fluorouracil to 32 patients with stages III--IV. The patients were irradiated on a B-5M-25 betatron and gamma-units of the rokus type. A single focal dose was 3 Gy, the summary dose in most of the cases 60-70 Gy (TDF 99-115 units). Therapeutic results were evaluated by the degree of tumor regression, frequency of recurrence and the survival of patients without evidence of disease. The short-term results for all types of treatment were almost the same. However in cancer of stages I--II a complete tumor resorption was noted more frequently than in tumors of stages III--IV (respectively 81 and 36%). Differences in the frequency of a complete tumor regression also depended on its site. It was observed in 62% of the patients with the supraligamentous tumor site, in 93% with the ligamentous site and in 45% with the supraligamentous-ligamentous site. A study of the long-term results of the treatment of patients with laryngeal cancer has shown that a 5-year disease-free survival with good organ function is noted in 81% of the patients with stages I--II and only in 28% with stages III--IV. The results do not depend on the method of irradiation.