[Radium contact irradiation of vocal cord carcinoma--a possible treatment method?].

In the course of the use of carrier- bounded radioactive substances for the treatment of the vocal cord carcinoma, 113 patients with a vocal cord carcinoma were treated with radium contact irradiation after thyroid cartilage windowing at the ENT University Clinic Essen. The period of study extended from 1972 to 1983. 88,6% of the patients with vocal cord carcinoma, who showed a typical localisation for radium contact irradiation, became recurrence-free. About 88,0% of the patients, who were led through an irradiation treatment of extended indication, became recurrence-free. A normal vocal function was achieved in 71,7% of all cases.