Treatment of hypopharyngeal carcinoma: a 10-year review of 1,362 cases.

A computer search of cancer patients enrolled in the Rocky Mountain Cancer Data System between 1973 to 1983 revealed 1,362 patients with hypopharyngeal cancer, 1,208 of whom could be staged by the American Joint Committee on cancer staging criteria. Stage I and II patients comprised 17.5% while 71% were either stages III or IV. The distant metastatic rate in advanced stage patients was 24%. Survivals for all treated patients were 65% at 1 year, 33.5% at 3 years, and 25% at 5 years. Three-year survivals were 54.5% for the surgery only group, 41.6% for the combined therapy group, and 17.7% for the irradiation only group. Five-year survivals for the surgery only group were 39.8%, combined therapy, 31.8%, and irradiation only 11.5%. These figures are actuarially corrected. Twenty-two percent of combined therapy patients had preoperative irradiation versus 78% who had postoperative irradiation. There was no statistically significant difference seen between these two groups.