Laryngeal carcinoma in childhood. Report of a case and review of the literature.

A rare case of an 81/2 year old boy with a stage III well differentiated squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx, which responded to chemotherapy and irradiation, is reported. It is the 56th case in children up to 15 years of age and 20th case in children 10 years old or younger reported since 1868. Carcinoma of the larynx in children has similar clinicopathological features to those of adult laryngeal carcinoma, but markedly differs as concerning sex incidence ratio. The main differential diagnosis is juvenile papillomatosis and the principal risk factor is previous cervical irradiation. Delayed diagnosis is frequent since clinical manifestations might be attributed to the normal laryngeal maturation process or to a common respiratory infection. Treatment is problematic, for special effort must be made to preserve laryngeal anatomy and function and to avoid complications. Prognosis of childhood laryngeal cancer is unclear since the reported survival rates are not tumor stage related.