Laryngopharyngoesophagectomy for advanced hypopharyngeal and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma: the Yale experience.

The 5-year survival rate for patients with hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma invading the upper esophagus is below 25% regardless of therapy. Most patients with advanced disease--unable to eat or breathe--die within 18 months of diagnosis. Because these patients, on average, have a limited time to live, surgical treatment should aim to maximize the quality of remaining life. Essential to this goal are complete tumor removal and rapid return to oral feeding. Furthermore, short hospital stay and low perioperative morbidity are especially important in these patients. We performed total laryngopharyngoesophagectomy (LPE) with gastric transposition in 34 patients with hypopharyngeal and cervical esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. There has been one perioperative death (3%) and 1 temporary fistula (3%). No major mediastinal or intrathoracic complication occurred. On average, patients began oral feeding by postoperative day 10, with return to a full diet and discharge home within 16 days, maximizing both quality and quantity of time remaining outside the hospital.