Study: Most advanced larynx cancers don't get best care

Nearly two-thirds of patients with certain advanced cancers of the larynx do not get the recommended treatment: having the organ removed, University of Pennsylvania researchers say.

In a national study of 969 patients, the Penn team found that instead, most got chemotherapy and radiation.

In these patients, whose cancers had grown through the cartilage around the larynx, those who got a total laryngectomy had a median survival of 61 months. Those who got chemoradiation lived just 39 months - nearly two years less. That option preserves the larynx, but is effective only for those with less advanced stages of cancer, said study senior author Alexander Lin, an associate professor at Penn's Perelman School of Medicine.

Larynx cancer kills more than 3,000 people a year in the United States, and it is mainly caused by cigarette smoking. Study authors said it was not clear why most patients got less effective treatment. Some may not have access to high-volume facilities, which are more likely to do total laryngectomies. The authors said further education is required for doctors and patients alike.

- Nigel Law