Endoscopic CO2 laser excisional biopsy of early supraglottic cancer.

Endoscopic CO2 laser excisional biopsy of selected early supraglottic cancer patients has been described. None of these patients experienced the perioperative morbidities of bleeding, airway obstruction, or aspiration beyond 3 or 4 days. All patients were treated with full-course standard irradiation therapy after their laser procedures. Our very preliminary data suggest that stage I and stage II patients are effectively treated with endoscopic CO2 laser excisional biopsy, whereas stage III patients should undergo open surgeries where medically possible.