Functional outcomes of early laryngeal cancer - Endoscopic laser surgery versus external beam radiotherapy:A systematic review

Background: Current evidence suggests no difference between endoscopic laser surgery (ELS) and radiotherapy (RT) with regards to oncological outcomes of early laryngeal cancer. Patient management may therefore be directed towards voice and quality of life (QOL) outcomes.Objective: This systematic review compares functional outcomes with respect to voice character, swallowing outcomes and QoL for ELS versus RT for T1/T2 stage laryngeal carcinoma.Methods: Search terminology was designed by both authors and used in Cochrane, PubMed and Web of Science databases. Studies of adult patients treated for primary T1/T2 laryngeal squamous carcinoma utilising one objective/validated measure of QoL, swallowing or voice were included.Results: Initial searches identified 1767 studies. After inclusion/exclusion criteria were applied, 42 studies were identified for full-text review.Conclusions: This review concludes that neither treatment is clearly advantageous. Future research should be composed of further prospective studies that use a standardised assessment regime to allow valid comparison.