Cancer of the larynx is most common in the vocal folds and relatively rare in the epiglottis (supraglottis) and infraglottis. The earliest (and only) symptom of early vocal cord cancer is hoarseness. Hoarseness is very common and its possible causes are: vocal cord nodules, vocal cord polyps, vocal cord cysts, vocal cord papilloma, vocal cord leukoplakia (precancerous laryngeal lesions), laryngitis, and laryngeal cancer. Whether it is laryngeal cancer or not can only be clearly diagnosed through specialized examination, so that laryngeal cancer can be timely detected, early diagnosed and early treated. Once diagnosed with laryngeal cancer, and regardless of whether it is early stage laryngeal cancer or not, patients and their families often ask to be hospitalized immediately for surgery to remove laryngeal cancer, but they do not know that radiotherapy can also cure early stage laryngeal cancer. Is surgery or radiotherapy better for early-stage laryngeal cancer? There are misunderstandings in early laryngeal cancer treatment: when early laryngeal cancer has been diagnosed, ENT or head and neck surgeons often recommend surgery because of the good effect of surgery, while radiotherapists often recommend radiotherapy because of the good effect of radiotherapy, both of them say their own treatment is good. In fact, both statements are correct, but they are also somewhat one-sided and not objective enough. No treatment is perfect, and surgery and radiotherapy have their own advantages and disadvantages. Doctors should objectively inform patients and families of the advantages and disadvantages of both surgery and radiotherapy, and then let them choose the treatment plan that suits their own situation. Radiotherapy (commonly known as electrotherapy) is one of the effective treatment methods for laryngeal cancer. Radiotherapy equipment and technology are becoming more and more advanced, creating favorable conditions for early laryngeal cancer treatment. Currently, the commonly used radiotherapy equipment is linear gas pedal, and the radiotherapy method used is three-dimensional conformal intensity modulated radiotherapy technique. The differentiation degree of squamous cell carcinoma is divided into good, moderate and poor. The better the differentiation degree, the less sensitive it is to radiotherapy. The degree of differentiation of squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx is mostly moderately differentiated, which is more sensitive to radiotherapy. In addition, laryngeal carcinoma of mass type or exophytic type is relatively sensitive to radiotherapy, while laryngeal carcinoma of ulcerative necrosis with severe infection or edema is relatively less sensitive to radiotherapy. Currently, radiotherapy is one of the best treatments for early stage laryngeal cancer, with a cure rate of 90%. Once radiotherapy fails or recurs after radiotherapy, surgical remedial treatment can also be performed, and then laryngeal cancer can be surgically removed. The biggest advantage of radiotherapy for early-stage laryngeal cancer is that the voice is better maintained because there is no surgery and no removal of vocal cords, so there is no more serious hoarseness caused by surgery. However, radiotherapy also has disadvantages: there will be radioactive oral mucositis during radiotherapy, which is manifested as pain and affects eating; radiotherapy will cause the production of bone marrow suppression and white blood cell decline, which will have certain effects on human immune function. Long-term complications of radiotherapy include: stiffening of the neck; decrease in white blood cells; meals cannot be easily swallowed (after radiotherapy, salivary gland function is severely damaged, salivary gland secretion is greatly reduced, so meals cannot be easily swallowed due to the lack of saliva lubrication); intolerable dryness and atrophic laryngitis; radiotherapy also has the possibility of inducing radioactive malignant tumors in the future (10 years after radiotherapy). In addition, the duration of radiotherapy is long (nearly 2 months) and the cost of radiotherapy is large, which is 30,000 to 50,000 Yuan. Radiotherapy can protect the articulatory function very well, so patients with high articulatory requirements can choose radiotherapy. Patients with poor systemic condition and cannot tolerate surgery can also be treated with radiotherapy. Advantages of surgery for early laryngeal cancer: high cure rate (over 90%) and low cost. The cost of laser resection of laryngeal cancer is about $5,000 to $7,000, and the cost of partial laryngectomy is about $15,000 to $20,000. The treatment time for surgical treatment of early laryngeal cancer is short. Laser laryngectomy requires only 2 days of hospitalization, while partial laryngectomy requires about 10 days to 2 weeks of hospitalization. The biggest advantage of surgery for early stage laryngeal cancer is that there are no complications and after-effects of radiotherapy. Disadvantage of surgery for early-stage laryngeal cancer: hoarseness of voice is much more obvious than radiotherapy. Patients who are not very demanding in voice and can tolerate surgery can choose surgery for early stage laryngeal cancer.