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Treatment Options for Laryngeal and Hypopharyngeal Cancer

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Abstract

Accurate staging is of paramount importance for the decision-making process. Positron emission tomography has been used increasingly for staging and follow-up of patients with head and neck cancer Patient preference, physician expertise, and toxicity issues are important factors when determining clinical management for individuals. Surgical treatment remains superior to conservative treatment in reference to disease control, but the latter is superior in terms of organ preservation. External radiotherapy alone and/or brachytherapy may offer an excellent outcome in early-stage disease. Altered fractionation radiotherapy and concomitant chemoradiation have resulted in improved locoregional control of locally advanced disease. For locally advanced disease, concomitant chemoradiation appears to confer a reproducible survival benefit; the optimal time-dose regimen has not yet been defined for this approach. Altered fractionation radiotherapy and chemoradiation increase acute toxicity profile. Concomitant chemoradiotherapy should be the gold standard after resection in patients at high risk of failure or for patients not suitable for chemotherapy. Targeted chemoradiotherapy with monoclonal antibodies appears to be a promising approach, with a high therapeutic index

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. First Department of Otorhinolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery of the University of Athens Medical School, Hippocrateion General Hospital, Athens, Greece

    Anastasios G. Hantzakos

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  1. Anastasios G. Hantzakos
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Correspondence to Anastasios G. Hantzakos .

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  1. Mont-Godinne, Univ. Hospital of Louvain at, Yvoir, 5530, Belgium

    Marc Remacle

  2. Hals-Nasen-Ohren Abteilung, Landeskrankenhaus Klagenfurt, St. Veiter Str. 47, Klagenfurt, 9026, Austria

    Hans Edmund Eckel

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Hantzakos, A.G. (2009). Treatment Options for Laryngeal and Hypopharyngeal Cancer. In: Remacle, M., Eckel, H. (eds) Surgery of Larynx and Trachea. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-79136-2_16

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