The ability of tumor volume to predict relative risks of local failure associated with surgical and non-surgical treatment of supraglottic carcinoma
Introduction: To assess whether tumor volume (TV) can help assess the risk associated with unimodality non-surgical organ preservation therapy in patients with supraglottic carcinoma (SGSCCA). Methods and materials: 100 patients with SGSCCA were treated initially with either definitive RT (n = 63) or surgery (n = 37). Primary site TV was calculated from pre-treatment CT. We tested whether there was any residual association between TV and local control after adjustment for T-stage for both treatment cohorts. We also determined whether there was any residual association between T-stage and local control after adjustment for TV. Results: TV was an independent predictor of local control (p = 0.024) among patients treated with definitive RT while T-stage was not (p = 0.514). For patients treated with surgery there was no independent association between TV and local control (p = 0.166). The association of T-stage with local control in this group was marginal (p = 0.054). Conclusion: Pre-treatment TV is an independent risk factor for predicting local recurrence after definitive radiation therapy.
