Laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma: Early-stage disease

A computerized PubMed search of MEDLINE from 1966 to 2005 was performed. The diagnosis terms larynx, glottic, or true vocal cord were exploded and combined. The terms cancer, carcinoma, or squamous cell carcinoma were exploded and combined. The above two searches were then limited to early stage, T1, T2, stage I, or stage II to yield articles focused on early-stage I-II glottic cancer. These articles were then subjected to the PubMed Clinical Queries using Research Methodology Filters [1] optimized for sensitive/broad search for articles in the category of therapy, yielding 311 articles. These articles were then cross-referenced with the headings radiation, radiotherapy, laser excision, endoscopic surgery, endolaryngeal resection, transoral surgery, CO₂ cordectomy, laser cordectomy, or microsurgery, yielding a total of 250 publications, whose titles and abstracts were reviewed to identify those that met the following inclusion criteria: 1) patient population with primary newly diagnosed, biopsyproven T1 or T2 larynx carcinoma, 2) intervention with radiation or endoscopic resection (with or without laser), 3) outcome measured in terms of survival, local recurrence, and/or larynx preservation.