Surgical strategy for laryngeal cancer with preservation of laryngeal function

  Laryngeal cancer is one of the most prevalent head and neck tumors. The treatment standard I introduce is the conventional treatment standard of our hospital, which may not be the same as that of other hospitals.  For Tl and T2 stage vocal hilar laryngeal carcinoma, CO2 laser surgery is used, provided that the anterior union is not involved by the tumor and the operative field is fully exposed. Nowadays, some people use surgery to remove both the arytenoid cartilage and part of the cricoid cartilage for T2 vocal fold laryngeal cancer. We rarely do arytenoid cartilage and partial cricoid cartilage resection for stage T2 vocal fold laryngeal carcinoma, and the efficacy is not affected without arytenoid cartilage resection.  For T2 stage vocal fold laryngeal carcinoma involving bilateral vocal folds, partial laryngectomy on cricoid cartilage can be performed, provided that the infiltration of tumor into the subglottis does not exceed 1 cm, the upward invasion does not reach the root of the epiglottis, and the posterior 1/3 mucosa of the vocal folds and the arytenoid cartilage of the less severe side are normal; vertical subtotal laryngeal resection or frontal partial resection of the larynx for epiglottis repair (Tucker) can also be performed.Indications for Tucker surgery. T2 or T3 laryngeal cancer invades bilateral vocal cords or ventricular zone; at least one side of the cricoarytenoid joint is not invaded and has good mobility; the root of the epiglottis is not invaded; subglottic invasion does not exceed 0.5 cm; bilateral cricoarytenoid joint invasion or interarytenoid area invasion, subglottic invasion exceeds 0.5 cm is a contraindication to Tucker surgery. The combined upper and lower vocal fold approach is suitable for other stage vocal fold laryngeal carcinoma of bilateral vocal folds, the lower part of which is the cricothyroid membrane, and the upper part of which is the root of the epiglottis and the anterior part of the bilateral ventricular folds combined with the thyroid cartilage plate. It is possible to remove the tumor completely without entering the tumor during resection, that is, after splitting the larynx open, the surface of the ventricular zone is entered from the light side and the extent of the tumor can be seen from above and below jointly. In general, the tumor is first entered from the lighter side, and after the tumor is free, the opposite side is seen and the tumor is removed within the safe limits. The side with heavy lesion needs to be removed more and the side with light lesion needs to be preserved a little more and the vocal cords are mobile. The surgery is completed by pulling down the vocal cords on both sides and suturing them together with the mucosa under the vocal cords. After this surgery, the right side of the vocal cords is mobile.  For T3 and T4 stage vocal fold type laryngeal cancer, expanded vertical partial laryngectomy can be used, which is suitable for those who have lesions on one side of vocal fold, tumor in laryngeal chamber, ventricular band is not involved, downward subglottic invasion of anterior segment not more than lcm, posterior segment not more than 4-5mm, anterior union may be invaded, but limited to the first 1/3 of contralateral vocal fold resection, posterior union is normal, paravocal fold is invaded, but The thyroid cartilage plate is normal, and there is no invasion of the pyriform fossa and posterior cricoid region. Most patients can recover all or part of the larynx function after surgery.  For supraglottic laryngeal cancer, supraglottic partial laryngectomy can be performed by removing part of the larynx horizontally and then hanging the head of the larynx and fixing it with the hyoid bone and tongue root; horizontal vertical partial laryngectomy (3/4 laryngectomy) is suitable for supraglottic laryngeal cancer invading one of the lateral ventricular bands, and 3/4 laryngectomy can be performed; supracricoid partial laryngectomy is also a common operation, in which the thyroid cartilage is completely removed and the larynx is reconstructed by fixing the cricoid cartilage and hyoid bone together. A laryngeal reconstruction with fixed sutures. For some advanced supraglottic and glottic laryngeal cancer cases who have lost the opportunity of partial laryngectomy mentioned above, Pearson’s surgery (subtotal laryngectomy) is feasible as long as the arytenoid cartilage and part of the vocal cords on the less severe side of the lesion can be preserved.  The incidence of subglottic laryngeal cancer is not high, and we found 2 cases of misdiagnosis in the field within 1 year. The initial symptom of both cases was dyspnea, and they were treated with “bronchial asthma” in the respiratory medicine department, but their condition did not relieve for about 2 weeks. Many of the symptoms of subglottic laryngeal cancer are dyspnea, so if you encounter this kind of consultation, it is better to do a laryngoscopy. Subglottic laryngeal cancer can be treated by subglottic enlarged partial laryngectomy.  When encountering special patients with inconsistent signs and symptoms, a full range of examination must be performed. For example, in one case, the patient’s left vocal cord did not move, and after coming to our department for examination, we found that the lesion was on the right side, and considered why the left vocal cord did not move, and then carefully examined and found that there was lung cancer on the left side, so no surgery was performed. This case reminds us that we must pay attention to a thorough examination.  Pearson surgery has been improved and it is possible to restore more functions of the larynx, or even all functions. The cases suitable for Pearson surgery are intermediate and advanced (stage III and IV) laryngeal cancer and hypopharyngeal cancer (T3N0-2M0, T4NO-2MO). This procedure is also more suitable for some of the elderly patients and patients with poor cardiopulmonary function, because it can better solve the swallowing and vocalization problems. The following conditions should be listed as contraindications: (i) both halves of the larynx have been invaded and the thyroid cartilage has been destroyed; (ii) the mucosa between the arytenoids and postcircular is involved; (iii) the subglottis and trachea are more than lcm involved and more than half of the whole circumference of the tracheal wall has been removed.  The indications for Arslan surgery (cricopharyngeal anastomosis): the tumor should be strictly confined to the larynx and the epiglottis is not involved, and it is not suitable for any partial laryngectomy. If the tumor involves bilateral vocal folds and is not suitable for extended vertical hemilaryngectomy for vocal fold type laryngeal cancer, there must be sufficient safety margin for T2 and T3 stages involving the root of the epiglottis and subglottis. Involvement of the root of the epiglottis, arytenoid cartilage and interarytenoid area and poor lung function should be contraindicated.  What should be done before laryngeal function preserving surgery for T3 and T4 stage laryngeal cancer? The choice of treatment method: surgery + radiotherapy is effective. Pre-operative preparation: firstly, the determination of lesion scope, to determine the tumor scope in three dimensions, which is related to the safe cutting edge of surgery, must have an accurate estimation of the invasive scope of tumor before surgery; secondly, to determine whether there is lymph node metastasis, whether it is near or distant, unilateral or bilateral; thirdly, to understand the patient’s cardiopulmonary function, if the patient has poor cardiopulmonary function, pneumonia is likely to occur after laryngeal cancer surgery. If the patient has poor cardiopulmonary function, pneumonia is likely to occur after laryngeal cancer surgery.  There are two purposes of placing dilators, one is to prevent infection caused by residual secretions, and the second is to prevent laryngeal adhesions, if the laryngeal cavity is more spacious, dilators can be used, there are two problems after placing dilators, one is that the patient is very painful, and the second is that it is too dangerous to change the tracheal tube after the patient is awake. The problem of surgical technique is that the oncological principle must be followed during surgery, so it is very important not to cut into the tumor, therefore the surgical approach is very important; the safety limit must be clearly defined, the safety limit in general is 5mm, for hypofractionated tumors the safety limit must be greater than 5mm. The exploration of chemotherapy for stage 13 and T4 tumors is being carried out.