Follow-up of patients after treatment for laryngeal cancer

Abstract

Follow-up of laryngeal carcinoma patients is considered to be the important part of their care. The main purpose of follow-up is to early detect potential disease recurrence and second primary tumous, besides assessment of treatment effectiveness and rehabilitation. There is still no definitive guideline based on the data of survival rates, and our aim is to summarize current guidelines and recommendations based on current recommendations and our experience. A review of the literature regarding follow-up and rehabilitation of laryngeal cancer patients was made. Our considerations are based on critical appraisal of the current literature and clinical evidence. Staging is based on the current UICC (Union for International Cancer Control) laryngeal cancer TNM Classification. The parts of follow-up that we discussed in this review include the duration, frequency and setting of the visits, and imaging regarding the mode of treatment (surgery and/or chemoradiotherapy). One of the most important segments of follow-up is patient’s education about potential recurrence or second primary tumor signs and symptoms. Large prospective and retrospective studies remain to be undertaken for the current recommendations and practices to be properly evaluated for survival rates.

Keywords

• laryngeal neoplasms – therapy; carcinoma
• squamous cell – therapy; aftercare – standards; neoplasm recurrence
• local – diagnosis; neoplasms