The quality of voice in patients irradiated for laryngeal carcinoma.

Data from 150 patients with laryngeal carcinoma, consecutively treated primarily by radiotherapy from 1965 through 1974 was analyzed to assess the quality of voice. The voice appears to improve in majority of the successfully irradiated patients. In 76% of the evaluable patients in this group, the quality of voice appears to have attained normalcy or near normalcy. Smoking appears to have a negative influence. High incidence of bronchogenic carcinoma along with the negative influence of smoking on the quality of voice in this series of patients indicate that the patients should be advised against smoking in day-to-day clinical practice.