M J van Acht | PubMed Health

PubMed1992

The prognostic value of hemoglobin and a decrease in hemoglobin during radiotherapy in laryngeal carcinoma.

An association between a low Hb-content and a poor response on radiation therapy has been established in previous years, especially in patients with squamous cell carcinomas. Whether this is linked with hypoxic conditions of the tumour or associated with tumour volume, blood loss or other conditions, is not yet known for certain. Patients with small head and neck tumours seem to form an interesting group to study this issue because several factors can be ruled out. Therefore, a retrospective analysis of 306 patients with glottic or supraglottic carcinoma was performed, to identify whether the Hb-value was of prognostic importance and whether this was linked to other patient characteristics. All patients were treated with primary radiotherapy with doses ranging from 60 to 70 Gy in 6-7 weeks. It appeared that in glottic carcinoma, the disease-free survival was significantly worse in patients with a Hb-value below normal at the start or/and at the end of therapy (p = 0.09, p = 0.0012, respectively). In patients with supraglottic carcinoma, the above mentioned difference approved only for a Hb-value below normal at the end of treatment (p = 0.05). A decrease in Hb-level of greater than or equal to 0.5 mmol/l during therapy, regardless whether the Hb-values were within or beyond normal range, reduced the disease-free survival in patients with glottic carcinoma (p = 0.0125). In a multivariate analysis, the Hb-value at the end of treatment proved to be an independent prognostic factor after T- and N-classification. There was no relationship with nutritional condition of the patient, nor with the Karnofsky Performance scale.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Carcinoma, Squamous Cell↗

PubMed1989

Glottic and supraglottic carcinoma: a retrospective comparison of radiotherapy alone with sandwich therapy in 366 patients.

From 1971 through 1982, 442 patients with laryngeal carcinoma were seen at the Leiden University Hospital. They were treated either with radiotherapy alone, sandwich therapy (pre- and postoperative radiotherapy) or by surgery followed by postoperative irradiation. Three hundred and sixty-six patients with glottic or supraglottic tumours could be analysed with respect to two different treatments, complications of treatment and some prognostic factors. Two endpoints of analysis were used: disease-free interval and survival to cancer death. In patients with glottic or supraglottic carcinoma, the survival of patients with advanced disease, treated with radiotherapy only, was worse as compared to the survival of the same category of patients who were treated with sandwich therapy (p less than 0.005). In patients with small glottic tumours, radiotherapy alone was mostly used. In small supraglottic tumours, the survival with both therapy policies was equal. Persistent hoarseness in patients with small glottic tumours, treated with radiotherapy only, is of predictive value for the development of a recurrence (p less than 0.001). There was no influence on prognosis of histological differentiation of the tumour. It appeared that interruption of radiotherapy for more than two days had an adverse effect on survival in patients with glottic carcinoma (p = 0.0001). Finally, the occurrence of second malignancies was analysed. It was found that 19% had a second malignancy. Almost 60% of them were lung cancers.

Aged↗