Does Cryosurgery Have a Place in the Treatment of Papillomata or Carcinoma of the Larynx?

Abstract

Cryosurgery may be used as primary treatment for T1 cancer of the larynx in elderly patients with fair or poor medical status and as secondary treatment in postradiation failures of T1 carcinoma, or in multicentric carcinoma in situ. It is of proven value in cases studied to date. Many properly classified patients are being treated by this method with the expectation that most will not require a laryngectomy. Recurrent squamous papillomata of the larynx have responded excellently in many patients with cryosurgery, some necessitating more treatment than others. Fewer laryngoscopies are necessary; in most patients, the disease was eliminated in one to five treatments.