A Laryngeal Function Preserving Operation for T4a Laryngeal Cancer in Patients with Vocal Cord Paralysis

Chemoradiotherapy is the standard treatment of choice is chemoradiotherapy for locally advanced laryngeal cancer in cases in which the organ function needs to be conserved. Surgical treatment with larynx preservation is only conducted in a limited number of cases. There seems to be no standard organ-preserving surgery for locally advanced laryngeal cancers in cases involving conditions such as vocal cord fixation and/or cricoid cartilage destruction. We devised a novel operation that preserves the swallowing function and the airway. The operation is performed in two stages. In the first stage, the tumor is resected with the aim of preserving the swallowing function. In the second stage, the airway is reconstructed. This operation was performed for patients with T4a disease and vocal cord paralysis who expressed a strong desire for their laryngeal function to be preserved.