Patients with oropharyngeal and hypopharyngeal tumors refuse surgical removal due to fear of swallowing and speech problems after surgery, in addition to advances in radiation therapy that have led nearly half of patients to choose radiotherapy for treatment. But the latest study found that patients who underwent surgery survived longer. This is the conclusion of a study by Dr. Zhi Dao from the Zhongshan Cancer Center in Taipei, based on registry data from the Taiwanese population. Professor Peter Naredi of the University Hospital of Salgrinska spoke highly of the study, saying that the results address the important question of whether surgery should be the first treatment option for patients with pharyngeal tumors. Dr. To Dao pointed out that, in the treatment of pharyngeal tumors, the emphasis on organ preservation has led to a gradual decrease in the number of surgical procedures performed, and thus an increasing number of people are opting for concurrent radiotherapy. But in terms of survival data, advances in surgery, especially minimally invasive techniques, have brought greater benefits to patient survival. In the study, they focused on stage III and IV patients from the follow-up data of 2,387 new oropharyngeal and 2,315 hypopharyngeal cancer patients from 2004 to 2009, with follow-up through 2012. The team found that 35.29 percent of stage III and 37.63 percent of stage IV oropharyngeal cancer patients underwent radical surgery, while 51 percent and 40 percent of hypopharyngeal cancer patients underwent radical surgery. The 5-year survival rate for patients with stage III oropharyngeal cancer who underwent surgery was 59% compared with 48% for those who did not. 54% of patients with stage III hypopharyngeal cancer who underwent surgery had a 5-year survival rate compared with 33% of those who did not. This difference was statistically significant. This shows that the survival rate of patients who underwent surgery was significantly higher than that of patients who did not undergo surgery. Therefore, surgery should be the preferred treatment strategy for stage III and IV patients. This study is continuing and they will further compare surgery and radiotherapy for any difference in patient survival. The results of the study were presented at the 2015 European Cancer Conference.