Quality of Life for Patients Following Total Laryngectomy vs Chemoradiation for Laryngeal Preservation

Abstract

Background:The incorporation of chemotherapy and radiation, either sequentially or concurrently, has been increasingly used for organ preservation in patients with advanced laryngeal cancer. Traditional outcome measures of clinical response such as locoregional control and survival have been similar for patients treated with chemoradiotherapy and those treated with total laryngectomy (TL). The impact of concurrent chemoradiotherapy for laryngeal preservation on the overall quality of life (QOL) of patients has not been clearly evaluated, particularly in direct comparison with TL.Objective: To compare the QOL of patients treated with concurrent chemoradiotherapy with those treated with TL.

Effects of total laryngectomy on olfactory function, health-related quality of life, and communication: a 3-year follow-up study

“…Contrary to what could be expected, our laryngectomized patients reported HRQL scores comparable to those of the controls, and better HRQL than reported in previous studies in laryngectomized patients [ 1 , 17 , 21 ]. This might be explained by several factors.…”

“…In the present study only few differences were found in the EORTC QLQ-H&N35 module between the laryngectomized study group and the control group treated with radiotherapy, results also confirmed in other studies [ 1 , 17 , 22 ]. However, an interesting finding in the study group concerns one of the two questions in the Senses scale, "Problems with smell", that displayed a clinically significant change after NAIM rehabilitation, whereas the Senses scale (also including "Problems with taste") did not.…”

Long‐Term Quality of Life After Total Laryngectomy and Postoperative Radiotherapy Versus Concurrent Chemoradiotherapy for Laryngeal Preservation

“…In this study, patients who underwent TL reported significantly more impaired physical, social and role functioning, and social contact scores. This finding confirms the trend observed in other series 10,11 . The head and neck region is highly significant in terms of body image because of its visibility and prominence.…”

Long‐term functional and quality of life evaluation after treatment for advanced pharyngolaryngeal carcinoma

“…4,9,10 The absolute values of scores obtained in our study are similar to those obtained by Hanna et al 9 Among the few studies that have compared long-term QOL after CRT versus total laryngectomy, some have reported better outcomes for CRT therapy. These results confirm a trend observed in several studies using the same questionnaire or other generic instruments.…”

“…These results confirm a trend observed in several studies using the same questionnaire or other generic instruments. 4,9,10 The absolute values of scores obtained in our study are similar to those obtained by Hanna et al 9 Among the few studies that have compared long-term QOL after CRT versus total laryngectomy, some have reported better outcomes for CRT therapy. 3,5 Terrel et al 5 suggested that good results after CRT therapy may not be related only to speech function but also to other parameters such as depression.…”